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Contents
1 The Triune God—December 31–January 6 6
2 In the Beginning—January 7–13 14
3 God as Redeemer—January 14–20 22
4 The God of Grace and Judgment—January 21–27 30
5 The Holiness of God—January 28–February 3 38
6 God the Lawgiver—February 4–10 46
7 Lord of the Sabbath—February 11–17 56
8 Creation Care—February 18–24 64
9 The Bible and History—February 25–March 2 72
10 The Promise of Prayer—March 3–9 80
11 God as Artist—March 10–16 88
12 Love Stories—March 17–23 96
13 The Promise of His Return—March 24–30 104
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The Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide is prepared by the Office of the Adult
Bible Study Guide of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The
preparation of the guides is under the general direction of the Sabbath School
Publications Board, a subcommittee of the General Conference Administrative
Committee (ADCOM), publisher of the Bible study guides. The published guide
reflects the input of worldwide evaluation committees and the approval of the
Sabbath School Publications Board and thus does not solely or necessarily repre-
sent the intent of the author(s).
ho can look at those photos from the Hubble Space Telescope and
not marvel at the beauty of the cosmos? Astonished at the famous
photo of the Sombrero Galaxy, one writer said, “How can we begin
to fathom the knowledge, the power, the reasoning, the truths, and the purposes
that went into the Sombrero Galaxy (which is just one among billions of others)?
Here we are, so small and so isolated, a speck of the creation with so much in our
view but so infinitely beyond our grasp.”
More astonishing than the universe itself, however, has to be its Maker, because
only something greater than the universe could have made it.
Of course, as Seventh-day Adventists, the God whom we worship and serve is the
One who, indeed, has made the universe—everything from the Sombrero Galaxy to
the quarks that compose all matter in it and everywhere else.
It is in this context—that of the Lord whom we worship and serve—that this
quarter’s lesson is going to do some “theology,” a technical term for “the study of
God.” After all, is it not important to know about the God whom we worship, trust,
and serve—the One we are called to love with “all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind” (Luke 10:27)?
The picture of God in the Bible is very expansive. Yes, God’s love is underscored,
again and again, but there is so much more about Him that He wants us to know.
For example, there are hundreds of different names for God in Scripture. Each one
Glimpses of Our GodGlimpses of Our God
W
of them could give a deeper and more informed understanding of the great God of
heaven and earth. He is so much more than a benign Santa Claus in the sky who
doles out assistance at our request. (A professional poker player recently won mil-
lions of dollars in a tournament and then publicly thanked Jesus for it!)
This quarter we’re going to look at God, at various aspects of Him as they have
been revealed to us, and at what these things mean for us on a practical level. We’re
going to start with some of the “basics,” such as the Trinity—the amazing teach-
ing that God is One God and yet composed of Three
Persons. From there, we’re going to focus on God as
Creator—the doctrine that forms the foundation of
all that we believe. Next, we’ll look at His work of
redemption because, in a fallen world, being created
isn’t enough. We need to be redeemed, as well. We’ll
also look at God as both a God of grace and a God of
judgment. We’ll then look at His holiness, His law, and
the Sabbath, all of which stem from the essence of His
character and help us to understand more about what
He is like.
And we also are going to look at some other aspects of
God not commonly considered, such as God as a God
of beauty, of history, and even of romance. Among other things, such as prayer and
ecology (that is, we want to look at some of the practical aspects of what it means to
serve our Lord), we’re going to look at God’s great promise of the Second Coming,
which leads to the climax of history and the end of humanity’s horrible experience
with sin.
God is big (after all, He created—along with everything else—the Sombrero
Galaxy!). We are so small in contrast. How grateful we should be, then, for every
bit of light He casts our way. This quarter we’ll look at some of that light. How
faithfully we walk in it, is up to each of us individually.
Jo Ann Davidson is a professor of theology at Andrews University Seminary in Berrien
Springs, Michigan, U.S.A.
This quarter we’re
going to look at God,
at various aspects of
Him as they have
been revealed to us,
and at what these
things mean for us
on a practical level.
Got
Questions?
Sabbath School
University has answers!
Sabbath School University is a
28-minute discussion of the Adult
Sabbath School Bible Study Guide. SSU
discusses the content and strategies to
enrich your Sabbath School with
fellowship, outreach, Bible study,
and missions. Sabbath School leaders,
don’t miss this weekly broadcast on
Hope Channel.
www.hopetv.org
Mission to the Chinese
Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world.
Well over a billion people speak Mandarin, Cantonese, or one of several
other languages and dialects that originated in China. Millions of
Chinese-speaking people live throughout Asia, North America, and dozens
of other countries around the world. In North America Chinese is the
third most widely spoken language.
Yet until recently, few video programs have been produced in one of the
Chinese languages. The church is striving to make God’s message available
to Chinese-speaking populations wherever they live through avenues such
as the Internet and Hope Channel. I’m glad that this quarter part of my
Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help make more programming available to
the Chinese-speaking people around the world. For me, it’s personal.
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L e s s o n
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*December 31–January 6
The Triune God
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
Deut. 6:4; Phil. 2:6; Matt.
28:19; Gen. 1:26, 27; John 14–16.
Memory Text:
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your
most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the
love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life” (Jude 20, 21, NKJV).
Key Thought:
Scripture contains references and hints to the deity
and unity of the divine Godhead.
A
lthough the word Trinity doesn’t appear in the Bible, the
teaching definitely does. The doctrine of the Trinity, that God
is One and composed of three “Persons,” is crucial because it
is dealing with who God is, what He is like, how He works, and how
He relates to the world. Most important, the deity of Christ is essential
to the plan of salvation.
In Scripture, there are three separate but interrelated types of evi-
dence for the Trinity, or tri-unity of God: (1) evidence for the unity of
God, that God is One; (2) evidence that there are three Persons who
are God; (3) subtle textual hints of God’s three-in-oneness.
The distinctions among God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit found in the
Bible must be understood as being the way God is in Himself, however
difficult this may be for our fallen minds to grasp. The “eternal heavenly
dignitaries—God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit,” as Ellen G. White
calls them (Evangelism, p. 616), are equal but not identical or inter-
changeable. As fundamental belief number 2 says, “There is one God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons.”
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 7.
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Su n d a y
January 1
The Oneness of God
The belief system of the ancient Hebrews was rigorously mono-
theistic: “mono” expressing “one” and “theistic” from the Greek word
for “God,” meaning that there is only one true God. This position is
unwavering all through the Old Testament. There is but one God, the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and not many gods as believed by
the nations and tribes around the Hebrews. In this sense, the religion
of the Bible was unique.
How
does God speak about Himself in Exodus 3:13–15? How do
these verses imply the oneness of God?
________________________________________________________
The oneness of God is also found in the text (Deut. 6:4) called by
the Jews “the Shema.” It was given this name because the opening
word, the command “Hear” in Hebrew, is the word shema. This state-
ment is one of the great truths about God, a truth that the people of
Israel were commanded to believe and to teach their children.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lo r d our God, the Lo r d is one” (Deut. 6:4,
ESV). Compare that verse with Genesis 2:24 (ESV), “Therefore a man
shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they
shall become one flesh.” What might it mean that the same Hebrew
word for one appears in both texts?
________________________________________________________
The same word, echad, for “one,” is used of God in the “Shema”
of Deuteronomy 6:4. This word echad, for oneness, does not imply
a mathematical sum but a complex unity instead. Something is being
affirmed here about a unity of distinct parts. Husbands and wives are
to be “one” (echad) according to Genesis 2:24, just as in Deuteronomy
God is “one.”
How
does the New Testament talk about the oneness of God? James
2:19, 1 Cor. 8:4.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
How should the understanding of God as one help us avoid the
pitfalls of idolatry in any form? Why should the Lord alone be
the One whom we worship? How can you eradicate any “idols”
from your own life?
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Mo n d a y
January 2
The Deity of Christ
The deity of the Father is scarcely, if ever, in dispute. Those who
question the Trinity often challenge the deity of Christ. Were Christ
anything but eternal and fully divine, the plan of salvation would be
seriously compromised (see Thursday’s lesson).
How
does Paul, once a rigid Pharisee, talk about the deity of Christ?
Phil. 2:6.
________________________________________________________
For a Pharisee grounded in the Old Testament teaching of the one-
ness of God, this is an astonishing statement, because it reveals Paul’s
deep commitment to the deity of Christ.
The book of Hebrews—written to Jews who were strong mono-
theists, as was Paul—contains potent statements underscoring the
deity of the Son of God. In Hebrews 1:8, 9, Christ’s divine nature is
powerfully and explicitly expressed.
Most important in revealing the deity of Christ is Jesus’ own self-
consciousness. He didn’t march through the streets of Jerusalem
with a triumphal chorus proclaiming His deity. Yet the four Gospels
include many threads of evidence which reveal that this is how He
understood Himself. Jesus repeatedly claimed to possess what prop-
erly belonged only to God: He spoke of the angels of God as His
angels (Matt. 13:41); He claimed to forgive sins (Mark 2:5–10); and
Jesus claimed the power to judge the world (Matt. 25:31–46). Who
else but God could rightfully do that?
Review
how Jesus accepted the worship of various people in the
Gospel records (Matt. 14:33, 28:9, Luke 24:50–52, John 9:35–38).
Compare His actions with Paul’s (Acts 14:8–18). What does Jesus’
acceptance of all this worship reveal about His deity?
________________________________________________________
At His trial, one accusation against Jesus was that He claimed to be
the Son of God (John 19:7, Matt. 26:63–65). If Jesus did not regard
Himself as God, this was a critical opportunity for Him to correct a
mistaken impression. Yet He did not. In fact, it was at His trial before
Caiaphas that He affirmed His own deity under oath. Hence, we have
powerful evidence from the Bible of the deity of Christ.
Think about Jesus’ life. Focus on the fact that He was God, the
Creator of the universe. What does this tell us about God’s love for
the world? Why should you draw much comfort and hope from
this truth?
Tu e s d a y
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January 3
The Holy Spirit
If God can be “one,” with the two Persons of the Father and the
Son, adding a third Person to the Godhead should not particularly add
more difficulty. We are talking here about the Holy Spirit.
Read
Genesis 1:2. What does this tell us about the role of the Holy
Spirit, who appears so early in the biblical record?
________________________________________________________
How
does Matthew 28:19 draw attention to the three members of the
Godhead?
________________________________________________________
Three Persons of the Godhead are mentioned when Jesus instructs how
new believers are to be baptized. This baptismal “formula” is used today
in most Christian baptisms. The person who has chosen to follow Jesus
is baptized into the “Name” (singular, not plural, in the Greek), although
three Persons are included. Three Divine Beings are viewed as One.
At the baptism of Jesus, all three Persons of the Trinity appear
together. Read Mark’s dramatic description of that baptism (Mark
1:9–11). Mark’s description of the heavens as “parting” (vs. 10, NKJV)
would be better translated as “torn open” (NIV). Mark draws attention
to all three Members of the Divine Godhead in an awesome revelation
of God that affects even nature itself.
As with Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit is linked with, and attrib-
uted to, the actions of God. Review the following portrayals of the Holy
Spirit’s actions:
1. When announcing the birth of Christ, the angel tells Mary that her
Child will be called “holy” because the Holy Spirit will come upon her
(Luke 1:35).
2. Jesus claimed that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, anointing
Him to preach (Luke 4:18).
3. He also claimed to be driving out demons by the Spirit of God
(Matt. 12:28).
4. The Spirit, who is to carry on Christ’s work after His departure, is
another Counselor of the same kind (John 14:16).
5. Jesus breathed out the Holy Spirit upon His followers (John
20:22).
6. New Christians will have both the indwelling Holy Spirit (John
14:17) and also the Spirit of Christ (Gal. 2:20, Col. 1:27).
Christ and the Holy Spirit are intimately linked with each other’s
ministry. Moreover, there are biblical references that identify the Holy
Spirit as God. Read Acts 5:1–11. How does this incident help us to
understand the deity of the Holy Spirit, as well?
We d n e s d a y
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January 4
In Unity and Equality
However clear it is in the Bible that God is one (echad), the Bible
also talks about the plurality of Persons. Scholars and Bible students
throughout the millennia have seen in many Old Testament texts power-
ful evidence of the plural nature of God. This truth, as with many oth-
ers, is more fully revealed in the New Testament.
Read
Genesis 1:26, 27. How is God’s plurality revealed here?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
This pairing of the plural and the singular when referring to God
also occurs in Genesis 11:7, 8 at the building of the tower of Babel.
God Himself speaks again. The Lo r d is mentioned, yet He speaks
as one of a group (“Us”).
Read
Isaiah 6:8. In what ways do you see the plurality of the “Lord”
revealed there, as well?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
In the New Testament, how does Peter’s sermon at Pentecost exalt
Jesus within the Godhead? (See Acts 2:33.) Peter, a devout mono-
theistic Jew, and thus a believer in One God, proclaims the full divin-
ity of Christ, now in heaven. In his letter to the Jewish exiles of the
dispersion, Peter again communicates evidence of the triune nature of
God. (See 1 Pet. 1:1–3.)
How
does Paul include the plurality of God as he describes the pro-
cess of salvation? 2 Cor. 1:20–22. (See also 2 Cor. 13:14.)
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
With our finite and fallen minds, this teaching is not easy to
fully grasp. But so what? We are dealing here with the nature
of God, the Creator of the universe. How foolish it would be to
think that we could fully understand Him, especially when, as
humans, we don’t “fully” understand pretty much anything.
Dwell on even the “simplest” thing you can think of. How many
aspects of it remain beyond your grasp? How much more so
with something as grand as the nature of God Himself?
Th u r s d a y
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January 5
The Trinity and Salvation
The Gospel of John gives direct and conscious attention to the
unique nature of God. John seems to be fully aware of the oneness,
yet “threeness,” of God.
Read
Christ’s prayer in John 14–16 and count the number of refer-
ences to the three Persons of God. How do these passages help us
to understand the reality of this important truth?
_______________________________________________________
This passage in the Gospel of John is the most extensive concentra-
tion of references to the coequal, three-Person God. Here, the inter-
dynamics among the Trinity come through repeatedly. The doctrine of
the Trinity, far from being a piece of abstract speculation, is the inevi-
table conclusion that comes from a systematic survey of Scripture.
Of special importance in this context is the deity of Christ. If Christ
were not fully God, then all we have is the Lord shifting the punishment
for our sins from one party to another, as opposed to taking them upon
Himself. The whole point of the gospel is that it was God Himself on the
cross bearing the sins of the world. Anything short of this would denude
the atonement of everything that made it so powerful and effective.
Think about it: if Jesus were merely a created being, and not fully God,
how could He—as a creature—bear God’s full wrath against sin? What
created being, no matter how exalted, could save humanity from the vio-
lation of God’s holy law?
Were Jesus not divine, then God’s law would not be as sacred as God
Himself, because the violation of it would be something for which a cre-
ated being could atone. The law would be only as sacred as that created
being, and not as sacred as the Creator. Sin itself would not be so bad if all
it took to atone for it was the death of a creature and not the death of the
Creator to atone for it. The fact that it took God Himself, in the Person of
Christ, to remedy sin presents powerful evidence of the seriousness of sin.
Also, our assurance of salvation through what Christ has done for us—
and not through our own works—comes from the fact that God Himself
paid the penalty for our sins. What could we do to add to that? Were
Christ a created being, maybe we could add something. But with God
the Creator sacrificing Himself for our sins, it’s all but blasphemous to
believe that anything we do could supplement that sacrifice. Thus, were
Christ not divine, the atonement would be fatally compromised.
Think for a moment: the Creator of the universe died in your
stead, in your place, so you could have the promise of eternal life
in Him. How can you learn to draw hope and assurance from this
amazing truth? In light of this reality, what else really matters?
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fr i d a y
January 6
Further Study:
In the doctrine of the Trinity, we do not find three
different divine roles displayed by one Person (that is modalism). Nor
are there three gods in a cluster (that is tritheism or polytheism). The
one God (“He”) is also, and equally, “They,” and “They” are always
together, always closely cooperating. The Holy Spirit executes the
will of both Father and Son, which is also His will. This is the truth
that God reveals about Himself all throughout the Bible.
Some people struggle with the divinity of Christ because of how,
while here in the flesh, Jesus had subordinated Himself to the will of
the Father. Many see this as “proof that He was somehow less than the
Father. This reality, however, does not reflect the inner structure of the
Godhead. This subordination reflects, instead, how the plan of salvation
was to operate. Jesus was to come into humanity, becoming “obedient
to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8, ESV). Also,
“though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he
suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salva-
tion unto all them that obey him” (Heb. 5:8, 9). These statements reveal
that the subordinate role Jesus played resulted from the Incarnation,
which was crucial to the plan of salvation. They don’t prove that He is
anything other than fully divine and eternal.
‘His name shall be called Immanuel, . . . God with us.’ ‘The light of
the knowledge of the glory of God’ is seen ‘in the face of Jesus Christ.’
From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father;
He was ‘the image of God,the image of His greatness and majesty,
‘the outshining of His glory.’ It was to manifest this glory that He came
to our world.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 19.
Discussion Questions:
l Some early Adventists struggled with the doctrine of the
Trinity. Today the church has taken a firm stand on the doc-
trine. How does this change over time reveal to us the unfolding
nature of truth? In your own experience, how have you grown
in your understanding of truth? What beliefs did you once hold
that, today, you no longer accept?
l John 8:58 reads: “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, before Abraham was, I am.” How does this text power-
fully reveal the full divinity of Christ?
Summary:
If we want to deepen our love for the great infinite God
we serve and be drawn to worship Him, we first must try to grasp
what He tells us about Himself. The Trinity is a mystery, but in
Scripture “mysteries” are deep truths that an infinite God reveals to
us on a finite level. Thus, we can safely speak of God only from our
knees. “ ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!’ ” (Deut.
6:4, NKJV).
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2
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tor
i n s i d e
13
Curse of the Fetish Priest
by Gu i L L a u m e dj o s s o u
Giving one’s life to God can be a life-or-death decision in some regions
of the world. As a lay pastor and church planter working near the city of
Cotonou, Benin, I saw this firsthand.
When Ann and her husband became Seventh-day Adventist Christians,
Ann’s father, a fetish priest in Benin, cursed her with death.
One day as Ann sat working under a tree, she noticed dark clouds form-
ing. She gathered her things, but before she could leave, rain started fall-
ing. The rain wasn’t heavy, so Ann remained under the sheltering tree.
Suddenly, lightning struck, and Ann’s clothes caught fire. She yanked
off the burning cloth wrap, but her back was badly burned. Some Seventh-
day Adventist church members nearby ran to help Ann to safety. Ann lost
consciousness before they reached a nearby house.
Realizing that Ann’s injuries were the work of the devil, the believers
read Revelation 12:7–12 and claimed God’s power over Satan. Then they
prayed for Ann. While they prayed, some people approached the house
and began invoking spirits. The believers realized that these were fetish
priests, and they prayed even more earnestly, even as the voodoo priests
called on their spirits.
When Ann regained consciousness, the believers tried to take her to the
hospital. But the priests prevented them from leaving. Finally, the police
arrived and helped the Christians take Ann from the house. Ann eventu-
ally recovered from her ordeal.
At the time the demons attacked Ann, the little Seventh-day Adventist
congregation had just eight members. But word spread about how God
had saved Ann from the curse of the voodoo priests, and many people
came to hear about Ann’s powerful God.
Because of Ann’s steadfast faith and the family’s work in the com-
munity, many people have given their lives
to Jesus. The little church in the village has
grown to more than 50 members.
Your mission offerings are helping to
advance the work of God in a demon-infested
region of the world. Who knows how many
people will hear Christ’s message of love
because you have given? Thank you.
GUILLAUME DJOSSOU (left) was a lay evangelist
when this event happened. He is now studying theology at
the Adventist University Cosendai in Cameroon.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
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L e s s o n
2
*January 7–13
In the Beginning
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
Matt. 19:4; Job 38:4–7; Deut.
32:10, 11; Psalm 19; John 1:1–13; Rom. 5:12; Isa. 66:22.
Memory Text:
“For by Him all things were created that are in
heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were
created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16, NKJV).
Key Thought:
The doctrine of Creation, a literal six-day Creation,
is foundational to all that we believe.
I
t’s hard to imagine two more diverse views of our origins than the
biblical model of Creation and atheistic evolution. The first presents
a creation that was planned, calculated, with nothing left to chance.
In contrast, the evolutionary model is all chance. Second, in the biblical
account, everything was created for a purpose; God had an end goal, a
purpose for what He created. In contrast, evolution works on the prem-
ise that there is no final goal, no purpose-driven force motivating what’s
created. Random mutation and natural selection (products of chance)
work together blindly, keeping what functions and discarding what
doesn’t. Finally, the biblical account teaches that humans were made in
the image of God. Evolution teaches that they are made in the image of
whatever primate just happened to precede Homo sapiens.
This week, we’ll look at the biblical doctrine of Creation. If we get
Creation wrong, we’re all but certain to get many other things wrong.
That’s how crucial the teaching is to what we believe as Seventh-day
Adventist Christians.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 14.
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Su n d a y
January 8
Creation Week
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen.
1:1, NKJV). How does this opening line automatically make the
Bible and Darwinian evolution mutually exclusive?
The book of Genesis opens with God already in action as Creator.
No explanation for, or introduction of, God is given. None of the Bible
writers thought that God needed an introduction. The closest thing for
a proof of the existence of God might be the sentiment of the psalmist:
“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’ (Ps. 14:1, NKJV).
Scholars have noted an amazing artistry, not just in creation but in
how it is presented in the Bible. Genesis 1:2 provides the introductory
aspects upon which God’s masterpieces of matter are organized: “The
earth was without form and void.” The first three days He “forms” what
was “unformed.” The next three days He “fills” what had been “void
or empty.
The light created on day one was filled or completed on day four with
the great lights of the sun and moon (and “the stars also,” Gen. 1:16).
The air and water that had been the focus on day two were filled up with
the birds and water creatures on day five (Gen. 1:6–8, 20–23). The dry
land separated from the waters and then filled with vegetation on day
three (Gen. 1:9–13) was completed with the land animals, along with
humans, on day six. Finally, all was pronounced “very good” and then
regally celebrated on the seventh day by God Himself (Gen. 2:1–3).
The point is that nothing in these texts leaves any indication that any-
thing was left to chance. On the contrary, the texts teach the opposite:
everything was meticulously worked out and planned.
According
to the following texts, who also believed in the biblical
account of Creation?
Matt. 19:4________________________________________________
Exod. 20:8–11_____________________________________________
1 Tim. 2:13_______________________________________________
Isa. 40:26________________________________________________
Everything in the Bible testifies to the fact that the Lord created the
world, speaking it into existence just as depicted in Genesis 1 and 2.
Scripture leaves us no wiggle room regarding that matter. One can
choose Creation, or one can choose evolution, but honesty allows no
melding of the two. The texts themselves don’t leave us that option.
Mo n d a y
16
January 9
The Heart of the Creator
The drama of Creation week is extraordinary. Day after day, the Creator
speaks into existence the life systems and life forms that continue to
amaze scientists. Even God refers to the extreme joy of that time.
How
does God express to Job the excitement that was part of the
earth’s creation? Job 38:4–7.
_______________________________________________________
A hint of the joy in the Creator’s heart that first week can also be
found in the second verse of Genesis chapter one (NKJV): “And the
Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Biblical
scholars become ever more appreciative of the fine literary crafting
of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) by Moses. In this
instance, as Moses describes the Spirit of God “hovering” over the
face of the waters at the opening of Creation week, he deliberately
chooses a word that he will only use one more time—in Deuteronomy
32. That chapter is part of his farewell sermon to Israel.
How
does Moses use the word hovering this second time? Deut. 32:10,
11. (See also Matt. 23:37.)
_______________________________________________________
Think of how mother birds lovingly prepare the nest for their
babies. Then, picture them hovering over their babies, bringing them
food, and then teaching them how to fly. Moses, who had taken care
of sheep for 40 years, must have seen this natural phenomenon hap-
pen each spring, and it must have made him think of God’s tender
care. Under inspiration, he pictured the same emotions in the Holy
Spirit’s heart as our human “nest” was being constructed.
Everything in the Creation account, then, in contrast to the vari-
ous evolutionary models—which depict our Creation as the work of
forces violently competing with each other—reveals a God who loves
His creation, who cares about it, and who purposely and carefully
designed it. There’s nothing impersonal about the creation, nothing
emotionless, nothing purposeless. Love was there at the start of the
Creation week. What a contrast to evolution, which teaches that love
somehow emerged only after billions of years of selfish violence.
Love motivated the Creation, and love will be there when this dam-
aged version of Creation is created anew.
Dwell on the marvels of nature. How do you see the amazing
love of God manifested there?
Tu e s d a y
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January 10
The Heavens Declare
The book of Psalms contains a rich corpus of songs praising the Creator.
Regularly and jubilantly the psalmists refer to the “great works” of God.
Psalm 19. The progression of thought is audacious. First, David
describes the glories of the heavens and firmament, including the
blazing sun. He compares the brilliant energy of the sun to a bride-
groom going to his wedding and also to an athlete in training (vss.
1–6). He then links this splendor of the sun to the perfection of God’s
law and the power of its precepts. The contents of the law are thereby
linked with the grandeur of God’s creative actions (vss. 7–11).
Psalm 92. This “Song for the Sabbath” opens with the attitude of
praise from a grateful heart. The one who traces the use of “the works
of Your hands” and “Your works,” as used throughout the Psalter
(or throughout any biblical book for that matter), will be drawn to the
extensive praise for the created world included in the Bible. And the
more that any person learns about the created works of God—whether
the smallest detail seen through a microscope, or the farthest star or
planet seen through a telescope, or whatever creature of animal life
(whether it swims, flies, or walks)—the more the amazing power of
God’s creative activity comes through. Scientists continue to learn
more and more, not only about the different plants and animals but also
about how all systems of life interact with each other in the complex
web of life. The more they learn, the more amazing it all appears.
“[The] jaw is clearly not an example of intelligent design; rather,
it is an imperfect adaptation that has occurred as a result of natu-
ral selection, working with the materials at hand to refashion and
shorten the mammalian muzzle into a face.”—Owen Gingerich,
God’s Universe (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2006),
pp. 98, 99. What important point has this Christian—fruitlessly
attempting to meld evolution with a Christian worldview—unfor-
tunately missed?
No question, the created world reveals the love and power of the
Creator. But our world has also been devastated by sin, by the scars
and disruption caused by the great controversy. We see the horrible
results all around us in sickness, death, natural disasters, and the like.
No part of the earthly Creation has escaped, and certainly no human
being has. And yet, even amid this devastation, we can see the love
and power of the Creator. The key is to focus not on the bad but on the
good that underlies it. We might see, for example, a cherry tree smit-
ten with the blight that destroys all the fruit. The blight, however bad,
does not, and cannot, erase the love and goodness revealed in the tree
itself, a love and goodness that points to the character of the Creator.
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We d n e s d a y
January 11
The Cross and Creation
Read
John 1:1–13. In what ways does John link Creation with the
Cross? Why are the two teachings inseparable?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
In numerous places the Bible clearly links the Lord as Creator with
the Lord as Redeemer, a link that provides more evidence that evolu-
tion cannot be reconciled with the Bible, especially with the teaching
of the Cross. Otherwise, what? The Lord would have incarnated into
an evolved ape created through the vicious and painfully murder-
ous cycle of natural selection, all in order to abolish death, “the last
enemy” (1 Cor. 15:26)? But how can death be the “enemy” if it was
one of God’s chosen means for creating humans, at least according to
the evolutionary model? The Lord must have expended plenty of dead
Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, and Homo neanderthalensis in
order to finally get His own image (Homo sapiens). What this would
mean, then, is that Jesus came to save humankind from the very pro-
cess He, as Creator, used to create it in the first place. If that sounds
ridiculous, it’s because it is.
Read
Romans 5:12. How does this text help us to understand how
crucial a literal reading of the Genesis Creation account is to the
whole plan of salvation?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
How is the idea of the Fall, so clearly biblical, explained by those
who seek to meld evolution with the Bible? Does God use processes
of violence, selfishness, and dominance of the strong against the
weak in order to create a morally flawless and selfless being who
then “falls” into a state of violence, selfishness, and dominance of the
strong over the weak—a state from which he has to be redeemed—or
else face final punishment?
Again, the absurdity of the position utterly rules it out. The only
way to make sense of the Cross, of the need for the Savior to redeem a
fallen race, is for human beings to have “fallen” from something, and
a “fall” implies a descent, a degeneration; it means that we went from
that which was good to something that wasn’t as good. That makes
perfect sense from a literal understanding of Genesis; with evolution,
it makes no sense at all. Indeed, the idea of evolution makes a mock-
ery of both the Fall and the Cross.
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Th u r s d a y
January 12
Creation and Re-creation
What
wonderful promises are found in these texts? Isa. 65:17, Isa.
66:22, 2 Pet. 3:13, Rev. 21:4. Also, how are these promises linked
with the biblical model of Creation, as revealed in the opening
chapters of Genesis?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
The whole Christian hope rests on the promises of a new heaven
and a new earth, a heaven and earth without the devastation that sin
has brought to the one we inhabit now. Without that hope, that prom-
ise, we have, literally, no hope at all. The promise of eternal life is
wonderful, but we want that eternal life in a world without the horrors,
sorrows, and disappointments of this one. What could be worse than
the eternal death that awaits the unsaved except eternal life in a world
in which misery is often the rule, rather than the exception?
All of which leads to some very interesting questions in regard to our
origins and how the Lord worked in the process of the first Creation—
the one depicted so masterfully in Genesis 1 and 2. The question is,
will the new heaven and the new earth be created by divine fiat? That
is, as depicted in a literal reading of Genesis: God speaks and within an
amazingly short time all life exists on the earth fully formed and devel-
oped, with nothing left to caprice, violence, or chance?
Or, instead, will the process of creation mean that life will, again,
have to endure the “joys” and rigors of natural selection and survival-
of-the-fittest for billions of years until a new world, one “wherein
dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13), finally appears?
After all, if God chose to use evolution the first time around to cre-
ate this world, why would He do something different the second time?
If these were His chosen means in the original Creation, are they not
good enough for round two?
The absurdity of the idea that God would use evolution to re-create
the heavens and the earth is more evidence pointing to the absurdity of
His having created the world that way to begin with. No question, the
Cross, Redemption, and the promise of a new heaven and a new earth
are themes inseparably tied in with the literal Genesis account.
Try to imagine what our world was like in its pristine beauty.
Imagine, too, what it will be like when it is created over. Our
minds and hearts can only begin to wrap around what that will
be like. Why is nothing in this world worth having if we lose out
on what is promised us?
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fr i d a y
January 13
Further Study:
Throughout all her ministry, Ellen G. White was un-
compromising in her rejection of the theory of evolution.
“It is,” she wrote, “the worst kind of infidelity; for with many who
profess to believe the record of creation, it is infidelity in disguise.”
The Signs of the Times, March 20, 1879.
“[S]hall we, for the privilege of tracing our descent from germs and
mollusks and apes, consent to cast away that statement of Holy Writ,
so grand in its simplicity, ‘God created man in His own image, in the
image of God created He him’? Genesis 1:27.”—Education, p. 130.
“When the Lord declares that He made the world in six days and
rested on the seventh day, He means the day of twenty-four hours,
which He has marked off by the rising and setting of the sun.”
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 136.
Discussion Questions:
l Another problem stemming from the attempt to meld evolu-
tion with the Bible is the resurrection of the dead at the end
of time. Isn’t that going to be an instantaneous process, in the
“twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52) even? Some folk have been
dead for thousands of years; there’s not much left to work with.
Yet, if God can re-create them in an instant, why did He use
evolution to create them the first time around?
l Contrary to popular conceptions, Charles Darwin worked on his
theory of evolution from a theological premise. He expressed it like
this: “There seems to me,” wrote Darwin, “too much misery in the
world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent
God would have designedly created the [parasitic wasp] with the
express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of cater-
pillars, or that the cat should play with mice.” Of course a “benefi-
cent and omnipotent God” did no such thing. What’s wrong with
Darwin’s assumption, and how do you think it influenced him in his
development of such a radically wrong theory on human origins?
l As a class, spend some time in nature and marvel at the vari-
ous wonders of the created world. As you do so, keep open to the
damage that sin has brought, and see how much you can distin-
guish between the creation and what sin has done to the creation.
Why is it always important to keep this distinction in mind?
Summary:
Despite many attempts to mix a biblical worldview with
the doctrine of evolution, the two teachings are polar opposites.
Christians must stand firm on the literal Creation story; once that
goes, the plan of salvation goes with it.
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tor
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Power of Prayer
by ir i n a me z e u a n
Irina is a teenager who lives with her family in the Republic of Georgia. As
a child, she suffered from a painful spinal tumor, and doctors gave her only
four years to live. Her mother, desperate for help, met a woman who was
lending books in the marketplace. Irina’s mother chose several books that
offered hope and took them home to read as she sat by Irina’s bedside.
When her mother returned the books, she thanked the woman for sharing
them. The woman invited Irina’s mother to visit the Seventh-day Adventist
church and to bring Irina. “We will fast and pray for her, she promised,
smiling. Irina’s mother took her to the church the following Sabbath, and the
woman and her friends fasted and prayed for her.
When Irina’s mother took her back to the hospital for a checkup, her doc-
tors were amazed to find that the tumor was shrinking. They removed the
tumor, and Irina’s pain disappeared.
Irina’s mother continued attending the Seventh-day Adventist church and
took both Irina and her sister, Yana, with her. The girls learned the importance
of prayer and began praying for others, just as Irina had been prayed for.
When the girls visited a certain store, they often sought out Lisa, a woman
who sold bread there. They invited her to church, but Lisa refused to go. The
girls weren’t discouraged; they continued praying for their friend, even after
she stopped working at the store.
One day Irina and Yana’s mother met Lisa on the subway and told the
woman that her daughters were praying for her. She shared words of hope
with Lisa and invited her to church. This time Lisa agreed to go.
When Lisa arrived at church the next week, the sisters hugged her and sat
with her. “We wanted her to know we love her and that she is special to God,”
Irina says.
Lisa continued attending church, even though she had to take several buses
to get there. Irina, Yana, and their mother continued praying for her. One
Sabbath the pastor invited those who wanted to accept Jesus to stand. The
sisters prayed silently that Lisa would make her decision for Christ and were
thrilled when Lisa stood up.
“We felt that God had answered our prayers for Lisa,” Irina said. Lisa was
baptized along with three friends for whom they also had been praying. The
girls are praying for their father. “He’s started reading the Bible,” Irina says.
“We know that God is working on his heart in answer to our prayers.”
Sharing our faith through witnessing and prayer and giving a generous mis-
sion offering are the three most powerful ways to bring others to Christ.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
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L e s s o n
3
*January 14–20
God as Redeemer
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
Rom. 1:18, Gen. 3:15,
Rom. 16:20, 1 Pet. 1:19, Mark 10:32–45, Matt. 27:46.
Memory Text:
“ ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive
power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory
and blessing!’ (Revelation 5:12, NKJV).
Key Thought:
The Triune God is our Creator and Redeemer.
C
losely related to God as Creator is His role as our Redeemer.
Sin is so bad, so hostile to the created world, that only the
Creator Himself could solve the problem.
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been
brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13, NKJV). It is not
through works, nor through anything we could ever do, but it is through
His grace, manifest at the Cross that we as sinners can be redeemed by
the Lord and be “brought near” to Him. Christ bore God’s wrath so that
none of us would ever, ideally, have to.
Paul also tells the church in Corinth that “the message of the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is
the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18, NKJV). The scandal of the Cross is that it
appears so absurd: God, the infinite, holy Creator, becomes a sacrifice for
the sake of twisted human souls, even His avowed enemies, taking upon
Himself the penalty for their sins so that they wouldn’t have to face that
penalty themselves! The atonement is so deep, so heavy, so profound,
that we grasp only what we can. Beyond that, thinking stops, and all we
can do is worship.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 21.
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Su n d a y
January 15
At the Cross
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). What is this text
saying to us?
At the cross, in the most humiliating, inconceivable manner imagin-
able, God triumphs over and shames the enemy. Love, justice, and com-
passion fuse in a singular dynamic act. God forgives sinners by paying
in Himself the price of sin and absorbing into His own suffering Self
the penalty of that sin. On Calvary, God reveals how extremely costly
forgiveness is.
Christ didn’t die in order to create love in God’s heart for us. No, Jesus
insists that the Father’s love is the source, not the consequence, of the
atonement (John 3:16, 17). God doesn’t love us because Christ died for
us; Christ died for us because God loved us. The atonement of Christ
was not offered to persuade the Father to love those whom He otherwise
hated. The death of Christ did not bring forth a love that was not already
in existence. Rather, it was a manifestation of the love that was eternally
in God’s heart. Jesus never had to persuade the Father to love us. Notice
how He insists on this truth in John 3:16, 17; 16:26, 27.
The real tragedy is that we have lost much of the knowledge of God,
against whom we have sinned. We do not even feel that we have much
to repent of, because we’re not always sure about just how much we
have offended God with our sins. We can become dull to just how bad
sin really is. Modern religious sentimentality often minimizes repugnance
toward sin. And because sin doesn’t make us angry anymore, perhaps it
becomes harder to realize that sin arouses the wrath of a Holy God.
Paul
is not afraid to discuss the wrath of God. How does he express
it in Romans 1:18?
This strong statement sets the tone for the lengthy treatment of the
universal sway of sin on which Paul continues to elaborate for the
next two chapters (through Romans 3:20).
An astounding aspect of the gospel is the fact that God is both the
victor over our sin and the victim of it. And, as a result of this dual
role, our holy God can keep His covenant with sinful covenant break-
ers. God’s love does not lead to a bland tolerance of sin and evil but
to a triumphant victory over it. It is precisely because God is love that
He opposes sin and evil, for these realities corrupt and destroy His
beloved children. The death that God endured on the cross is the price
His love pays for taking sin seriously while still loving sinners.
How seriously do you take the sin in your life? And what crite-
ria do you use to justify your answer?
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Mo n d a y
January 16
The Gospel in the Old Testament
When
is the first promise of salvation given, and what does it mean?
Gen. 3:15.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
The language here is striking. Adam and Eve have sinned. Now the
great controversy is announced to them through the strong language
of “enmity” between two opposing sides. This is a precious promise
for human hearts now attracted to sin. We are also assured that this
major conflict will not be eternal, for the head of the enemy will one
day be crushed. In these verses, not only is the great controversy first
revealed, but we also are told how it is going to end.
Paul
took courage from Genesis 3:15. How does he express it in
Romans 16:20? What point is he making?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
In Genesis 22:1–19, Moses also narrates an amazingly graphic
atonement picture. What can we learn about the future atonement of
Christ from this narrative?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Note the many mentions of “father and son” and how the two go
to the mountain of sacrifice together. The son carries the wood and
the father the instruments of sacrifice (fire and knife). Isaac, much
younger than his father, could have overpowered Abraham on the
mountain of sacrifice. But, instead, we see two miracles: the father
yielding his son, and the son yielding his life.
What a powerful representation of the sacrificial death of Christ on
our behalf. The scene, however powerful and moving, was only a tiny
foretaste of the time when—centuries later—another Father would offer
His Son. This time, however, there would be no animal to die instead of
the son. The Son Himself would die on the altar. The Father would truly
give up His Son, and the Son would give His life.
There, on Mount Moriah, the world has been presented a very power-
ful picture (but still only a picture) of the plan of salvation and what
it cost to redeem fallen humanity from the ruin of sin.
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Tu e s d a y
January 17
Salvation in Isaiah
On
the famous road to Emmaus, Jesus taught the two despairing dis-
ciples about the atonement from “Moses and all the prophets”
(Luke 24:27). What prophetic materials might Jesus have included
in His study of the atonement?
It’s very likely that Isaiah was among the prophets to whom Jesus
would have referred.
Read
Isaiah 53, which describes the “Suffering Servant.” Describe
the details included there that help you to more fully grasp the
amazing atonement of Christ.
_______________________________________________________
Although so much exists in this chapter, one point stands out more than
anything else, and that is the substitutionary role of the Suffering Servant.
Notice all the times that He is paying the price for the sins of others.
Again and again this theme appears, and what it teaches is that at the heart
of salvation, of atonement, is the death of Jesus on our behalf. As sinners
who have violated God’s law, we can do nothing to make ourselves right
with God. All of our good works cannot bridge the gap between us and
God. The only way to save us was for Jesus to pay the penalty in our stead
and then offer us His perfect righteousness, which we claim by faith.
Had our works been able to make us right with God in any way,
then Jesus would not have had to die for us. The fact that He did,
that it took nothing less than His death in order to make atonement,
should be all the proof we need that we cannot earn our salvation. It
is, instead, wholly a gift of grace.
Read
1 Peter 1:19, 2:21–25. How does Peter draw on Isaiah 53 in his
explanation of Christ’s atoning death on our behalf?
_______________________________________________________
Isaiah 53 presents what’s perhaps the clearest theological explana-
tion of the Cross, showing unequivocally that, whatever else the Cross
represents, it represents Christ dying on our behalf, bearing in Himself
the punishment that we deserve.
Using Isaiah 53 as your text, think about the final scenes of
Christ’s life. As you do, keep in mind that the person depicted
there is our God, our Creator, one part of the Godhead Himself.
How do we get our minds around this amazing truth?
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We d n e s d a y
January 18
The Gospels and the Cross
The astounding miracle of Christ’s incarnation, His profound
teaching, and the miracles He performed, are not the central focus
of Christ’s life. Instead, what dominates the thinking of Jesus is the
giving of His life. As miraculous as His birth and ministry were, the
great mission of Christ’s life was His death.
In the four Gospels, we find Jesus endeavoring to prepare His disci-
ples for His coming death. However, their devotion to Jesus, coupled
with their hope for a political Messiah, prevents them from grasping
what Jesus is telling them.
Read
Mark 10:32–45. How did Jesus describe His coming execu-
tion? (vss. 33, 34). What was wrong with the request of James
and John? (vss. 35–37). What was Jesus’ pointed response? (vss.
42–45).
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
The evening before He died, Jesus celebrated a Passover meal
with His disciples. He then gave instructions that this event should
be observed until He returned again. This ordinance of Communion,
instituted by the Lord Himself—and the only commemorative act He
personally authorized—is not a memorial of His incarnation, nor His
miracles, nor His parables, nor His preaching, but only of His death.
Christ Himself wished above all else to be remembered by His death.
In fact, in the four Gospel accounts of the Messiah’s life, the events
surrounding and including the crucifixion carry the major empha-
sis. The staggering miracle of the Incarnation is mentioned only by
Matthew and Luke. Only two chapters in each of their Gospels record
Christ’s conception and birth. Mark and John omit any comment on
Christ’s birth at all and begin their Gospels with Jesus as an adult.
All four Gospel writers, however, determinedly emphasize the last
week of Christ’s life and, of course, His death. Glance through them
and notice this pointed focus on just a few days of Christ’s life. The
last week of Jesus’ life, leading up to and including His death, takes up
from one-third to almost one-half of all gospel accounts. Each reader
is “forced” to rivet attention on the great redeeming act of God.
Look at your life, your past, your mistakes, your sins. Do you
honestly think anything you have done, or could do, could ever
atone for them? Why, then, should the death of Jesus on your
behalf be the central focus of your life? What hope would you
have without it?
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Th u r s d a y
January 19
The Cry on the Cross
Nothing is more destructive to our grasp of the atonement of Christ
than the sentimentality that sometimes passes for Christianity in our
day (all in the attempt to make the gospel conform to modern think-
ing). However, we must ever humbly acknowledge that anything we
say about God can never do God justice, especially when we consider
the atonement. We must avoid the temptation to reduce Jesus’ death
on the cross to merely an “example of selfless love.” It was certainly
that, but considering our situation as sinners, it would take more than
“an example of selfless love” to redeem us. It would take, instead, our
God bearing in Himself the full brunt of His own wrath against sin.
On
the cross, Jesus cried out, ‘My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?’ (Matt. 27:46, NKJV). How are we to understand
this? What was Jesus saying, why, and how does this amazing cry
help us understand what it cost to save us from sin?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
“And now the Lord of Glory was dying, a ransom for the race. . . .
Upon Christ as our substitute and surety was laid the iniquity of us
all. He was counted a transgressor, that He might redeem us from the
condemnation of the law. . . . The Saviour could not see through the
portals of the tomb. . . . He feared that sin was so offensive to God that
Their separation was to be eternal. . . . It was the sense of sin, bringing
the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s substitute, that made the cup
He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God.”—Ellen G.
White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 752, 753.
Jesus addresses this prayer to “God,” instead of to the “Father” as
He always had done. Christ’s cries from the cross are not some exem-
plary display that He appears to go through in order to demonstrate
that He loves us. No, this is God giving Himself over to death so that
our destiny would not be determined by death. This is God Himself
dying the death from which we can be spared, the death that sin would
otherwise bring us all.
Three Gospels record that Jesus cried out with a loud voice from
the cross as He was dying. These loud cries are even mentioned in
the book of Hebrews: “who, in the days of His flesh, when He had
offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to
Him who was able to save Him from death” (Heb. 5:7, NKJV). Jesus’
“cry of dereliction” is the most piercing cry in the Bible. There is no
statement in all the Gospels to rival this one from Jesus on the cross,
and in that cry we get a glimpse of what the Lord Himself was willing
to go through in order to bring us salvation.
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fr i d a y
January 20
Further Study:
“Oh, how inefficient, how incapable I am of express-
ing the things which burn in my soul in reference to the mission of
Christ! . . . I know not how to speak or trace with pen the large subject
of the atoning sacrifice. I know not how to present subjects in the liv-
ing power in which they stand before me. I tremble for fear lest I shall
belittle the great plan of salvation by cheap words.”—Ellen G. White,
Selected Messages, book 3, p. 115.
“The infinite mercy and love of Jesus, the sacrifice made in our
behalf, call for the most serious and solemn reflection. We should dwell
upon the character of our dear Redeemer and Intercessor. . . . As we
thus contemplate heavenly themes, our faith and love will grow stron-
ger, and our prayers will be more and more acceptable to God, because
they will be more and more mixed with faith and love. They will be
intelligent and fervent. There will be more constant confidence in Jesus,
and a daily, living experience in His power to save to the uttermost all
that come unto God by Him.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 89.
Discussion Questions:
l In Scripture, God is portrayed both as a great Lover of sin-
ners as well as extremely wrathful against sin. Some Christians
try to pick one or the other as representing God’s nature. Why
is that unnecessary? In fact, why is God’s love for sinners one of
the main reasons why He is wrathful against sin?
l God’s love is not like the feeble and sometimes irregular
affection that we bestow on one another. What does Christ’s act
as Savior teach us about divine love?
l How does your understanding of God’s holiness, in contrast
to your sinfulness, help you to understand better why salvation
cost so much?
l Dwell more on the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22.
In what other ways does it help us to understand the nature of
Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf? At the same time, in what ways
does it barely do justice to what it was intended to symbolize?
Summary:
From the earliest pages of Genesis, the Bible points us to
the death of Christ on the cross, where He would die a sinner’s death
in order to redeem us, as sinners, from the eternal destruction that
sin brings. Though the Bible uses different symbols and metaphors
to explain Christ’s death, at the center of it all is His substitution, so
graphically expressed in Isaiah 53. If we ever needed proof that works
can’t save us, we have it with the death of God Himself on the cross.
After all, what could fallen beings ever add to that?
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29
Hope and a Future
by aL e x a n d e r Gr i n e v
I was a typical Soviet youth—ambitious and skeptical. When the
Soviet Union broke up, I opened my own business.
One day Natasha, my wife, met a woman who invited us to evan-
gelistic meetings sponsored by Seventh-day Adventists. I had heard of
Adventists and believed that they were honest people. So when Natasha
came home from the first meeting, excited about what she heard, I
agreed to go to the meetings with her.
As I listened to the speaker, my youthful skepticism melted away,
and we accepted the truths we were learning. We made a commitment
to God, and He delivered me from my bad habits. We were so happy!
When Communism failed in Russia, the Mafia stepped in and threat-
ened small business owners, including me. I realized that we had to
leave Russia, but where could we go? In answer to our prayers, a pastor-
friend invited us to go to New Zealand. I knew a lot about this small
island nation from my years in the Russian military. We sold everything
and moved to New Zealand.
We found a Seventh-day Adventist church in Christchurch and were
welcomed into the church family. As we learned of other Russians
moving to Christchurch, we invited them to church. Our Russian-
speaking company meets in the English church. We’re continuing to
grow as we invite other Russian-speaking immigrants to worship with
us. We share our faith with those we meet and make friends for God
among newcomers to this country.
We hold small-group meetings, women’s meetings, and Bible-study
groups. We now have a growing—congregation with a part-time
Russian-speaking pastor who has helped to build this congregation. We
have discovered that about 4,000 Russian and Slavic-speaking people
live in our area of New Zealand.
Our mother church supports us, and its members are happy to see
our congregation growing. We’re all very excited about the potential to
reach others in the community who need to know Christ as a personal
Friend and Savior. Some of our friends have been baptized, and we’re
looking for more who want to know Christ.
I’m amazed at how God has led us. We’re happy to be living in His
will and working for Him in our adopted homeland.
Our Russian church plant is sponsored in part through Global
Mission. Thank you for sharing God’s love so that other Russians in
New Zealand will know how much Jesus loves them.
aL e x a n d e r Gr i n e v shares his faith in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
L e s s o n
30
4
*January 21–27
The God of Grace and
Judgment
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
1 Cor. 3:13; 2 Cor. 5:10;
Genesis 3; Genesis 6; John 3:17–21; Rev. 14:6, 7.
Memory Text:
“For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil”
(Ecclesiastes 12:14).
Key Thought:
God’s judgment is as pervasive in the Bible as is the
theme of salvation; in fact, the two teachings are intricately entwined.
A
soldier stood next to an old man about to be executed. He was
guilty of being the “wrong” race and religion, nothing more.
As the soldier raised his gun, his victim said, “Do you know
that there is a God in heaven who sees all this, and who will one day
judge you for your actions?”
The soldier then shot the old man dead.
This is, in many ways, a prime example of a secular society. Not a
secular government (a government that does not promote one religion
over another), but a secular society—one in which there is no higher
standard than the rules of the society itself. It’s a society with no sense
of transcendence, no sense of a higher authority, no sense of God or
of a moral standard greater than anything human. It’s a society where
humans take the place of God, a society where the only judgment
one faces is the judgment of one’s peers or of one’s own conscience
(whatever’s left of it, anyway).
According to the Bible, however, the old man was right: there is a
God in heaven, and He knows all things and He, indeed, will bring
everything into judgment.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 28.
31
Su n d a y
January 22
Judgment Day
The theme of divine judgment runs through the entire Bible.
Contrary to common beliefs, judgment is not contrary to salvation
or to the gospel. Both themes are woven together in Scripture from
Genesis through Revelation.
And no wonder. Judgment and salvation reflect twin aspects of
God’s character: His justice and grace. Thus, we should not pit the
idea of judgment against the idea of salvation any more than we
should pit the idea of God’s justice against His grace. To do so is
to rob both of their fullness and mutual complementarity. Scripture
teaches both; hence, we need to understand both.
What is interesting is that the New Testament talks more about
judgment than does the Old Testament.
Read
the following verses. What are they about? Who is judged?
What happens in these judgments? What do these texts reveal
about the nature and reality of divine judgment?
Eccles. 12:13, 14_________________________________________
1 Cor. 3:13______________________________________________
2 Cor. 5:10______________________________________________
Heb. 10:30______________________________________________
Matt. 16:27______________________________________________
Rev. 20:12_______________________________________________
Rev. 22:12_______________________________________________
Matt. 12:36, 37___________________________________________
1 Pet. 4:17_______________________________________________
Rev. 14:6, 7______________________________________________
These are a sample of the texts that clearly teach judgment. Many of
the most explicit judgment texts, texts that clearly reveal the reality of
divine judgment, or judgments, appear in the New Testament. This fact
works against the notion that judgment is contrary to the new-covenant
concept of God’s grace, which is also taught in the New Testament.
What this should teach us is that, however we understand judgment,
and however we understand grace, we must understand them as divine
truths that work together. To pit one against the other is to misunder-
stand the fullness of the gospel, which we looked at last week.
32
Mo n d a y
January 23
Judgment and Grace in Eden
Think about this: before sin, there was no need of grace because
there was nothing to forgive, nothing to pardon, nothing to cover. It’s
the same with judgment. Before sin, there was nothing to judge, noth-
ing to condemn, nothing to be punished. Both grace and judgment
arise, at least in a human context, only because of humanity’s sin.
Read
Genesis 3, the account of the Fall. In what ways are the themes
of judgment and grace revealed?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Satan succeeded in bringing sin into the world, changing everything as
a result. Immediately, though, the Lord entered, calling out, “Where
are you?” This question doesn’t have to be seen as condemnatory;
it was more an invitation to come to Him, the One who created and
loved them. It was a call to turn away from their deceiver and to return
to their Maker.
Notice, too, what happens. The first few lines from the mouth of
God in this fallen world are questions (see Gen. 3:9, 11, 13). Then the
first thing God says after He’s finished questioning is to declare His
judgment against the serpent. But next, in verse 15, even amid His
judgment against the serpent, what does God say?
Verse 15 is the first gospel promise. As soon as He declares His
judgment against the serpent, He then immediately gives the first
message of grace, of redemption, of salvation for humanity. And only
then, only after that gospel promise, does He start declaring His judg-
ments against the woman and the man. Although they fell, the first
things God gives them are hope and grace—the grace that forms the
background against which judgment is to unfold. Thus, even before
judgment, the promise of grace is given for those who will accept it.
It’s too late for Satan; his destruction is assured. But there, even
amid the judgments passed on to the man and the woman, God makes
His grace known.
At the beginning of fallen human history, a relationship between
sin, judgment, and God’s grace emerges. Although God must judge
and condemn sin, the promise of grace is always there, always pres-
ent, always available for those who will claim it for themselves.
In what ways might the Lord be saying to you, “Where are you?”
What are you doing that, perhaps, is causing you to hide from
Him? Why is understanding grace a crucial first step in heeding
His call to draw near to Him and away from the deceiver?
33
Tu e s d a y
January 24
The Flood
Critics of the Bible make a big deal of the fact that other ancient
civilizations had their own flood stories. They argue that the Bible
story isn’t unique, original, or even true, but that it is merely a copy
of some previous myth or legend.
On the other hand, those who believe that the Bible is the Word of
God see these stories as a confirmation of the reality of the Flood. The
Flood happened, and Genesis gives the inspired account of it. This
account stands in contrast to the other versions, such as the one that
says the Flood was sent because humans in their nightly feasting made
too much noise and disturbed the gods’ sleep. The gods, cranky from
lack of rest, sent the flood to punish them.
What
reason does the biblical account of the Flood give for the judg-
ment that was to come upon the earth? Gen. 6:5.
_______________________________________________________
The idea of humans being so evil that they deserved death and destruc-
tion shouldn’t be that hard to fathom for us today, living as we do in a
world where evil just gets worse and worse. The Christian view of human
sinfulness, although often derided, is constantly being verified. That we
are capable of good deeds doesn’t make us good. After all, American
mobster Al Capone loved children, was generous to a fault, and treated
his friends kindly. Who, though, would call him a good man?
Even
amid the impending promise of retributive judgment, how is God’s
grace revealed in the Flood account? (See Gen. 6:14–22, 2 Pet. 2:5.)
_______________________________________________________
By building the ark, Noah was giving the world a warning about
judgment. What’s implied, too, is that there was a grace period, a
chance for the world to turn from its evil ways and accept God’s sal-
vation. Ellen G. White wrote that had “the antediluvians believed the
warning, and repented of their evil deeds, the Lord would have turned
aside His wrath.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 97. The building of
the ark offered anyone who would heed the warning a refuge of safety
from the coming destruction. No question, judgment was coming. But
grace was offered to all who would accept it until it was too late, and
the door of mercy was shut.
How often has God revealed His grace to you? More times than
you can count, probably. How can you learn to better surrender
to that grace and let it mold you into the image of Christ?
34
We d n e s d a y
January 25
Condemnation and Grace
Most everyone is familiar with John 3:16. What comes afterward,
however, helps flesh it out and explain it even better.
Read
John 3:17–21. What does it say about judgment? About grace?
In what way do these verses reveal to us the way in which grace
and judgment work together?
_______________________________________________________
The word translated as “condemn” in verse 17 is also translated in
some versions as “judge.” Clearly, though, the context is that of con-
demnation, because God has made it clear in numerous other places
that the world will be judged.
Two themes appear in these texts, grace and judgment, and they are
radically intertwined. Sin and darkness and evil have brought the need
for a God of justice to judge and condemn these things. At the same
time, God’s grace offers a way out to those who are guilty, and that
comes by faith in Jesus Christ.
He who believes in Jesus is not condemned. That’s what the texts
say. It’s that simple. Christ’s righteousness covers that person, and
that person stands without condemnation, now and in the judgment.
What
reason do the texts give for condemnation?
_______________________________________________________
According to these texts, the default state of humanity is that of
condemnation. That’s because all have sinned and all deserve the
death that sin brings. These texts clearly debunk the notion that, after
the Cross, all humanity is automatically justified. Instead, after the
Cross, the whole condemned world is now offered salvation through
the atoning death of Jesus Christ, which is sufficient for every human
being. Everyone stands condemned; everyone, though, who, through
the grace of Christ, accepts the provision offered, stands pardoned,
justified, and redeemed through Jesus. The condemnation that is
theirs is, through the merits of Jesus, canceled, and they stand in His
perfect righteousness.
In fact, what does grace mean apart from the prospect of condemna-
tion? Just as the idea of condemnation implies judgment, so does the
idea of grace. Were there no potential for judgment (and condemna-
tion), there would be no need for grace. The notion of grace itself all
but demands the notion of condemnation. Hence, more reason to see
how grace and judgment are linked.
35
Th u r s d a y
January 26
The Hour of His Judgment
“Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall
not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known” (Matt. 10:26).
Looking around at the world, we shouldn’t have a problem under-
standing the idea of judgment and condemnation. One doesn’t have to
be a believing Christian to realize that something is radically wrong
with humanity. Who can’t see what a royal mess, even disaster, we’ve
made of things? Maybe we cry so hard at birth because, instinctively,
we know what’s coming. “I cried when I was born and every day shows
why,” a poet wrote. Who can’t relate? Who hasn’t been the victim of
just how greedy, selfish, and mean people can be? Or who hasn’t at
some point been the greedy, selfish, and mean one?
Thus, if God is just, and if justice was His only major attribute, who
among us would stand before Him? If the Lord knows even our secret
things, our secret deeds (Eccles. 12:14) (not to mention what we have
done in public), what chance would even the godliest among us have
on the day of judgment, when all these things will be revealed?
Fortunately, though, our God is also a God of grace. The whole
plan of salvation was established so that every human being could,
ideally, be spared the condemnation that God’s justice would demand.
Without grace, we’d all be consumed by God’s justice. Our only
hope, then, standing before a just God, is grace.
Read
the first angel’s message in Revelation 14:6, 7. How do these
verses reveal the link between God’s justice and His grace? How
do they also parallel what we saw in Genesis 3 regarding the rela-
tionship between grace and judgment?
_______________________________________________________
How interesting that before the warning that the “ ‘hour of His judg-
ment has come’ (NKJV), the angel is proclaiming the “everlasting
gospel.” It has to be that way, otherwise the judgment would condemn
all humanity. No one would have a chance because all have sinned,
all have violated God’s law. Here, among the last warning message
to the world, God’s grace is proclaimed. Otherwise, judgment would
condemn everyone, without exception. Without grace, what message
would we have for the world other than that God is going to destroy us
all and there’s no hope of escape? Fortunately, the message we have
has the “everlasting gospel” as its foundation.
What role are you playing in helping to spread this message of
judgment and grace to others? What more could you do to help
spread it because, most likely, you could be doing more, right?
36
fr i d a y
January 27
Further Study:
How do grace and judgment work together? Here’s
how inspiration reveals it:
“While Jesus is pleading for the subjects of His grace, Satan
accuses them before God as transgressors. The great deceiver has
sought to lead them into skepticism, to cause them to lose confidence
in God, to separate themselves from His love, and to break His law.
Now he points to the record of their lives, to the defects of character,
the unlikeness to Christ, which has dishonored their Redeemer, to all
the sins that he has tempted them to commit, and because of these he
claims them as his subjects.
“Jesus does not excuse their sins, but shows their penitence and
faith, and, claiming for them forgiveness, He lifts His wounded hands
before the Father and the holy angels, saying: I know them by name.
I have graven them on the palms of my hands.”—Ellen G. White, The
Great Controversy, p. 484.
Discussion Questions:
l How does the above quote help you to understand the role of
grace in the judgment? How does Ellen White describe God’s
faithful people, and why is that important? How clearly do you
see yourself described there?
l Imagine standing before God with everything that you have
ever done, good and bad, exposed? How well would you fare?
Would you be able to stand before God on the basis of your good
deeds, even the ones done out of the sincerest and most honest of
motives? Do you really think that they would be enough to com-
mend you before your Maker? How does your answer help you
understand the need of grace?
l What’s the deadly spiritual trap of thinking that it doesn’t
matter what we do because we’re saved by grace? How can you
protect yourself against falling into that deception?
l People sometimes warn us about “cheap grace.” Yet, there’s
no such thing. Grace isn’t cheap—it’s free! What’s cheap is
when people, in claiming that grace, try to use it as an excuse to
sin. What examples of that deception can be seen in the Christian
world? Or even in our own church?
Summary:
God is a God of justice, and justice demands judgment.
God is also a God of grace. How crucial that we, as Seventh-day
Adventist Christians proclaiming the three angels’ messages, under-
stand both these divine truths and what they reveal to us about our
God.
1
2
3
1
3
2
4
S
tor
i n s i d e
37
The Stolen Cow
by ja c q u e Th e r m i L
Roseline lives in a village in northwestern Haiti. She felt rich, for she
owned three cows. But she also felt grateful to God for her wealth and had
dedicated one of her cows to God. Now the cow was about to give birth,
and Roseline would give the calf to the Lord.
One day after finishing her morning devotions, Roseline went to tend to
her cows. But her dedicated cow was missing. She walked up and down
the path, calling to the cow, but there was no response. She realized that
the cow hadn’t wandered off to find a lush stand of grass; it had been
stolen.
Roseline started out to town to report the theft to the mayor’s office.
On the way she stopped at her pastor’s home and told him that her cow
had been stolen. “I’m not afraid,” she told the pastor, “because this cow
and its calf are dedicated to God. Nothing will happen to them that God
doesn’t wish. But I pray that the thief will bring the cow back because she
belongs to God.”
The pastor smiled at Roseline’s faith and promised to pray for the cow
and its calf. Then Roseline continued on to the mayor’s office to report the
missing cow and to ask that if someone returned a cow to let her know,
for it was hers. Roseline never doubted that the cow would return home
before her calf was born.
The next day Roseline again walked down the path to the pastor’s
house. “God’s cow has come home!” she said excitedly.
“What happened?” the pastor asked, curious.
“The thief himself brought back the cow,” Roseline responded. “He told
me that every time he looked at the cow he was troubled. He sensed that
there was something about this cow, and that made him uncomfortable,
but he didn’t know what it was. Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer
and brought the cow back to me! He even apologized for taking her.”
Then Roseline hurried on to town to report to the mayor that God had sent
her cow home safely.
Two months later, when the calf was born, Roseline gave it to God. She
cared for it until it was old enough to leave its mother, and then she sold
the calf and gave the money to the Investment offering.
A portion of Investment offerings helps to start new work and supports
work in large cities around the world. Thank you for giving your mission
and Investment offerings.
ja c q u e Th e r m i L is a pastor serving in northwestern Haiti.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
L e s s o n
38
5
*January 28–February 3
The Holiness of God
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; Gen.
2:3; Job 42:5, 6; Luke 5:1–11; Luke 4:31–36; Isa. 6:1–3; Rev. 4:8, 9.
Memory Text:
“Exalt the Lo r d our God, and worship at his holy
hill; for the Lo r d our God is holy” (Psalm 99:9).
Key Thought:
Scripture gives much attention to God’s holiness.
What does this holiness tell us about what God is like and what it
means to the plan of salvation?
O
ne of the foundational assumptions of all biblical writers is
that the God of heaven exists. God’s existence is just a given,
like an axiom in geometry.
Instead, we find within the 66 biblical books an extensive recount-
ing of what God is like and how He relates to us as fallen beings
whom He longs to redeem.
This week’s lesson focuses on one aspect of God’s nature that’s
foundational in Scripture: God’s holiness. God is love, Yes. And, Yes,
God bids us call Him “Father.” And, Yes, God is patient, forgiving,
and caring.
But, according to Scripture, fundamental to our understanding of
God is His holiness. Both in the Old and New Testaments, God’s
holiness undergirds His revelation of Himself. This theme appears all
through the Scriptures in one way or another.
What, though, does it mean to say that God is holy? How does the
Bible depict His holiness? And how do we, as unholy beings, relate
to a God like this?
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 4.
39
Su n d a y
January 29
It Is Written
Even a superficial study of church history makes it clear that it’s
all too easy to develop ideas about God and then to worship these
ideas instead of God Himself, the God revealed in the Bible. As the
skeptic Voltaire quipped, “God made man in His image, and man has
returned the compliment.” We may not even realize that we have an
incomplete, or even false, understanding of God.
Thus, we must return to Scripture and compare our thinking about God
with what is taught there. And this study must include both Testaments,
for in both the Lord has spoken to us. This point is important because
some have argued that the God revealed in the New Testament is differ-
ent from the One revealed in the Old. That’s not a position accepted by
Seventh-day Adventists, nor is it a position taught in the Bible.
What
phrases punctuate the Old Testament prophets again and
again? Jer. 7:1–3.
The prophetic messages of the Old Testament are laced thousands
of times with the phrase, “thus says the Lo r d ,” or an equivalent. This
should remind us that the prophet is not merely speaking for God but
that God is speaking for Himself through the prophet.
At the same time, the New Testament is filled with reference after
reference to the Old Testament. In fact, the whole theology of the New
Testament is intricately linked to the Old. How does one, for instance,
make sense of the sacrifice of Jesus apart from the entire sacrificial
system revealed in the Old Testament? How many times did Jesus,
as well as the New Testament writers, refer to Old Testament pas-
sages in order to buttress their arguments and points? The whole New
Testament corpus finds its theological foundation in the Old. There’s
no justification for any radical division between them. All Scripture—
both Testaments—is inspired by the Lord (2 Tim. 3:16).
Look
up the following texts. How do they help us to see the link
between the New Testament and the Old? What do they tell us
about how Jesus, as well as the New Testament writers, viewed
the Old Testament? Matt. 4:4, 11:10; Mark 1:2; 7:6; John 12:14,
15; Acts 13:33; Rom. 3:10; Gal. 3:13; 1 Pet. 1:16; 1 Cor. 5:7.
Mark Twain once said that it’s not the parts of the Bible that he
doesn’t understand that bother him; it’s the parts that he does.
Who doesn’t, at times, find sections of the Bible bothersome?
Given what the Bible says about itself (2 Tim. 3:16), how should
we respond to the parts we don’t understand, or maybe don’t
even like? (See also 1 Cor. 13:12.)
40
Mo n d a y
January 30
To Be Set Apart
What
is the first time the concept of “holiness” (from the same root
often translated as “sanctified”) is mentioned in Scripture? Gen.
2:3. How significant is the fact that the first thing deemed holy in
the Bible is time?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
This text gives us our first understanding of holiness. It shows that
something, in this case time, is “set apart” from that which is around
it. The seventh day itself is no different from any other 24-hour,
sunset-to-sunset period; what makes it different, “holy,” is that God
declared it that way. He set it apart from the rest of the week.
The Hebrew word there for “sanctified” means to “make holy” or to
“declare holy.” Holiness then implies that something is special about
whatever is “holy,” something that sets it apart from what isn’t holy.
To some degree, then, this idea should help us to understand the
holiness of God. God is set apart from anything else in creation. He
is transcendentally separate, far above and beyond anything that we
can truly grasp. To be holy is to be “other,” to be different in a special
way, as with the seventh-day Sabbath.
How
do these texts help us to understand the holiness of God in this
context? Exod. 15:11, 1 Sam. 2:2, Pss. 86:8–10, 99:1–3, Isa. 40:25.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
This concept of holiness should help us better understand the gap
between a God who is holy and a race of beings who aren’t—a race,
in fact, of sinners. God is separate from us not only because He is the
Creator and we are the created but because we are fallen beings. All this
should, ideally, help us better understand what Christ has done for us.
Although we are made in the image of God, what are the ways
in which we differ radically from Him? How do these differ-
ences help us to understand our need of a Savior? Make a list of
those differences and bring them to class on Sabbath.
41
Tu e s d a y
January 31
To Repent in Dust and Ashes
After
enduring inhuman suffering at the hand of Satan, Job cries
out: “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine
eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and
ashes” (Job 42:5, 6). What does this response tell us about God’s
holiness in contrast to human sinfulness? How is the gospel being
preached in Job’s reaction to what he experienced?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
The prophet Ezekiel, whom God graciously sends to Israel (even
though they are captive in Babylon as a result of their unfaithfulness),
also experiences the awful presence of God. What happened? (Ezek.
1:28).
Jacob had to flee from home after deceiving his father, Isaac, and
twin brother, Esau. What was Jacob’s response after his night vision of
the ladder to heaven and of God speaking to him? (Gen. 28:16, 17).
While Israel remained encamped at Sinai, the Lord again descended
in the cloud on the mountain and proclaimed Himself to Moses. How
did Moses react? (Exod. 34:8).
Daniel, another prophet during the same Babylonian captivity of
Israel, also received major visions from God while he served as a high
government official.
Although
repeatedly told that he is loved in heaven, how did
Daniel react when given a vision of God? Why do you think he
reacted as he did? Dan. 10:5–8.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Even though these men were faithful, godly, and righteous—they
were prophets, even!—their reactions to the presence of God were
fear, trembling, and worship. No doubt that was because, among
other things, they understood their own unworthiness and sinfulness
in contrast to the holiness of God. In their own way, these passages
hint at the need of a Savior, a Substitute, Someone to bridge the gap
between a Holy God and fallen sinful creatures like ourselves. Thanks
to the Lord, we have that bridge in Jesus.
Imagine yourself having a similar experience to one of these
men mentioned above. How do you suppose you would react,
and why?
42
We d n e s d a y
February 1
Depart From Me!
In the Old Testament, we find a consistent record of human
responses to a God who is holy. What about in the New? Some mod-
ern Christians argue that the Old Testament presents a primitive and
outdated picture of God, a God who is harsh and very prone to anger.
But when Jesus comes, He is now the God of grace and love. We
know, of course, that this is a distorted view of the Bible and of the
character of a God who does not change.
What
do the New Testament writers teach us about God’s holiness?
Read, for instance, Luke 5:1–11. How does this show the consistency
between the Old and New Testaments regarding the holiness of God?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
After these men toiled unsuccessfully all night as fishermen, Jesus
provided a miraculous catch of fish for His hard-working disciples.
When this occurred, one would think a normal human response would be
thankfulness to Jesus for such extraordinary financial assistance. Peter’s
response, though, was focused on something else. His reaction was much
like those of the Old Testament characters who encountered the Lord.
“But Peter was unmindful now of boats or lading. This miracle,
above any other he had ever witnessed, was to him a manifestation of
divine power. In Jesus he saw One who held all nature under His con-
trol. The presence of divinity revealed his own unholiness. Love for his
Master, shame for his own unbelief, gratitude for the condescension of
Christ, above all, the sense of his uncleanness in the presence of infinite
purity, overwhelmed him. While his companions were securing the
contents of the net, Peter fell at the Saviour’s feet, exclaiming, ‘Depart
from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The Desire
of Ages, p. 246.
Why this reaction? It’s because we’re not in the Garden of Eden
anymore, where Adam and Eve—before their fall into sin—welcomed
the presence of God in the cool of the evening. This close communion
dramatically changed immediately after the Fall, when the couple
ran and hid. Not much has changed since then. Indeed, this reaction
remains the consistent picture throughout Scripture. Whenever a
human being truly encounters the living God, there is the initial horror
of finally seeing the true depth of one’s own sinfulness.
When was the last time you got a really good look at your own
sinful nature? A horrible sight, isn’t it? What’s your only hope,
and why?
43
Th u r s d a y
February 2
When Demons Speak
Read
Luke 4:31–36. What testimony is given here about the holiness
of Christ? What is significant about who gave that testimony, too?
What lessons can we draw from this story about God’s holiness?
_______________________________________________________
Demons, who are fallen angels, remember who Jesus really is, and
even they—in their nastiness, hatefulness, and rebellion—are con-
strained to acknowledge Him and that He is holy. Notice, too, that they
feared that He was going to destroy them. Why so fearful? It must be
that, so full of sin, even demons fear before the presence of God’s holi-
ness, somewhat in the same manner that sinful humans do.
In the last book of the Bible, John describes receiving a vision from
God. Read Revelation 1:12–17. John, sometimes referred to as the apostle
who had the greatest insight into the love of God, has the same response
to his encounter with the Holy God as we saw in the Old Testament.
Moreover, a vision of how celestial beings worship God in the
heavenly sanctuary yields a similar picture to what Isaiah depicted
centuries earlier in a vision (see Isa. 6:1–3).
What
did John hear the heavenly beings around the throne saying?
Rev. 4:8, 9.
_______________________________________________________
Although God is love and all heavenly beings adore Him, we can
see that, around the heavenly throne of God, the worship anthem is
not “God is love, love, love.” Nor do the heavenly beings cry out,
“God is good, good, good.” Instead, day and night these mighty
beings exclaim, “Holy, holy, holy, L
o r d God Almighty.” Although all
heaven is involved in the ministry of God’s love and salvation to this
world, heavenly beings around the throne of God day and night praise
the holiness of God. As sinless beings, they are awed by His holiness,
but they don’t hide in fear of it, as do fallen beings.
In all of the human encounters of the divine as depicted in Scripture,
one never finds a suggestion that God is frightening. What we see
instead is that, in the piercing light of His holiness, human beings
finally see themselves for who they really are. And that is scary. In
Scripture, when people truly encounter the God of heaven, we find no
hand clapping, backslapping, and lighthearted singing. Rather, there
is abject personal repentance. All see and admit their personal guilt
without any excuses and without reference to the faults of anyone
else. How different our words, our lives, and our actions would be
were we all to live with the constant sense not only of God’s presence
but of His holiness, as well.
44
fr i d a y
February 3
Further Study:
As Christ stands before the trafficking crowd in the
temple, “the confusion is hushed. The sound of traffic and bargaining
has ceased. The silence becomes painful. A sense of awe overpowers
the assembly. It is as if they were arraigned before the tribunal of God
to answer for their deeds. Looking upon Christ, they behold divinity
flash through the garb of humanity. The Majesty of heaven stands as
the Judge will stand at the last day . . . with the same power to read the
soul. His eye sweeps over the multitude, taking in every individual.
His form seems to rise above them in commanding dignity, and a
divine light illuminates His countenance. He speaks, and His clear,
ringing voice—the same that upon Mount Sinai proclaimed the law
that priests and rulers are transgressing—is heard echoing through the
arches of the temple: ‘Take these things hence; make not My Father’s
house an house of merchandise.’
“Slowly descending the steps, and raising the scourge of cords gath-
ered up on entering the enclosure, He bids the bargaining company
depart from the precincts of the temple. With a zeal and severity He
has never before manifested, He overthrows the tables of the money-
changers. . . . None presume to question His authority. . . . Jesus does not
smite them with the whip of cords, but in His hand that simple scourge
seems terrible as a flaming sword. Officers of the temple, speculating
priests, brokers and cattle traders, with their sheep and oxen, rush from
the place, with the one thought of escaping from the condemnation of
His presence.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 158.
Discussion Questions:
l In class, go over your answer to Monday’s last question. What
are the major differences between us and a holy God? What are
ways in which some of those differences can be eradicated, if any?
l Given what we have looked at this week, why is it so much
easier to see why self-righteousness and self-satisfaction, espe-
cially about one’s own spiritual state, are very dangerous decep-
tions?
l Think about someone you know who is “holy,” that is, who
seems to be upright, honest, pure, and so forth; someone quite
“set apart” from most people. How do you respond to the per-
son? Does he or she make you feel good or bad, and why?
Summary:
It might be much nicer to focus only on God’s love
instead of His holiness, but that would be to distort the truth. We need
to encounter God’s searing holiness until we tremble before Him.
Understanding God’s holiness, and our sinfulness in contrast, is cru-
cial to helping us to understand what the atonement is all about, why
it is so desperately needed, and why it had to cost so much.
1
2
3
1
3
2
S
tor
i n s i d e
45
Through the Children
How does a group of believers carry on its ministry when they have no
place to meet outside of their worship hour? The Portuguese-speaking group
of believers in Brussels, Belgium, is small, but growing. It started as a Global
Mission project, and it’s growing larger and stronger as it reaches out to the
Portuguese-speaking community in this multiethnic city in northern Europe.
Because the group doesn’t have a church of its own, members can’t hold
meetings whenever they wish. Brazilians love to sing, and the youth crave a
time to hold youth meetings, but without space and time, it’s difficult to hold
regular meetings.
The church members have discovered that ministries to children bring
adults to the church. They’ve held weekend camps for children and youth in
rented locations and have started an Adventurers Club. Because the church
doesn’t have enough Pathfinder-age children to form a club, leaders have
asked the older children to help lead in Adventurers. And the club has quickly
grown to 18 children, half of whom are from non-Adventist homes.
One boy who comes is nine-year-old Paul. His father swore that he
would never set foot inside a church, so Paul’s uncle brought Paul to
Adventurers. Paul’s mother began coming with the boy to watch the pro-
gram and to see what Paul was learning. She praised the leaders for the
strong values they were helping to instill in her son.
But Paul’s mother couldn’t attend Adventurers on the week of Paul’s
investiture. This was an important program, so Paul’s mother asked her
husband to take the boy. In spite of his promise never to go to a church,
Paul’s father attended the investiture program. He, too, was impressed
with what his son was learning, and now he takes Paul to Adventurers
often. He did not object when Paul’s mother began taking Bible studies
with a member of the church.
One day Paul’s father commented, “I still don’t believe, but what you’re
doing for my son and other children is a good thing. You are teaching
good values.”
God is working in the hearts of parents through the lives of their chil-
dren in Brussels, Belgium. And our mission offerings are helping to make
this possible. A recent Thirteenth Sabbath Offering is helping to provide
worship centers for the Spanish and Romanian congregations in Brussels.
Giving these two groups their own churches has made it possible for the
Portuguese and another language group to meet in the rented spaces these
two churches once used. Thank you for helping God’s work expand in
Brussels, Belgium, a city with many hungry hearts.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
L e s s o n
46
6
*February 4–10
God the Lawgiver
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
Heb. 12:21; Rom. 7:8–13;
Job 24:14, 15; Exod. 16:4–30; Heb. 8:10; 10:16; Rom. 13:8–10.
Memory Text:
“For the Lo r d is our Judge, the Lo r d is our Law-
giver, the Lo r d is our King; He will save us” (Isaiah 33:22,
NKJV).
Key Thought:
God’s law is an inseparable part of the Old and New
Testaments. It is also an expression of His love.
A
s Seventh-day Adventists, we often hear the idea that the
law is a transcript of God’s character. (If so, then because
God doesn’t change, the law—which reveals His character—
shouldn’t change either.) What, though, does that mean?
Suppose you lived in a land with a king whose word was law. (“The
state, that’s me” one French king famously said.) Now, suppose the
king issued laws that were repressive, nasty, hateful, unfair, discrimi-
natory, and so forth. Would not those laws be a good representation of
the kind of person the king was; would they not reveal his character?
Think through some of history’s worst despots. How did the laws
they passed reveal what kind of people they were?
In this sense, the law reveals the character of the lawgiver. What,
then, does God’s law reveal about God? When we understand God’s
law as a hedge, a protection, something created for us, for our own
good, then we come to understand more about what God is like.
This week we’ll take a look at the law and, by default, the
Lawgiver.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 11.
47
Su n d a y
February 5
The Law at Sinai
Read
Exodus 19:18, 19; 20:18; Deuteronomy 5:22; and Hebrews
12:21, descriptions of the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. Why
would it be something so terrifying?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
“The people of Israel were overwhelmed with terror. The awful
power of God’s utterances seemed more than their trembling hearts
could bear. For as God’s great rule of right was presented before
them, they realized as never before the offensive character of sin, and
their own guilt in the sight of a holy God. They shrank away from
the mountain in fear and awe.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and
Prophets, pp. 309, 310.
There’s something so powerful in the Ellen White quote above. As
the law is presented to them, the people realize “as never before” just
how bad sin is and their own guilt in the eyes of God.
So, right from the beginning of Israel’s covenantal relationship with
God, we can see a revelation of the gospel in the law. The law was
never meant to be a means of salvation, even at Sinai; rather, it was to
show the people their need of salvation. It was right after the giving of
the law that they were given instructions to build the sanctuary, which
revealed to them the plan of salvation. The law was to point people
to the Cross, to their need of atonement and Redemption. No wonder,
then, that they trembled before the law, because the law showed them
just how sinful and fallen they were.
Read
Romans 7:8–13. How do these verses reveal this crucial truth?
What is Paul saying that the law does? (See also Ps. 119:6.)
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
In a sense, Paul is saying here what Ellen White said happened at
Sinai. The problem is not with God’s law; the problem is with sinners
who have violated the law, as we all have done. Paul is showing how
the law is inseparably tied to the gospel, that it is the law that shows
us just how sinful and fallen we are.
Read Exodus 20:1–17. Do you find yourself trembling before
the law? Do you find yourself convicted by it? What are your
emotions as you read the law and compare yourself with it?
48
Mo n d a y
February 6
The Law Before Sinai
As soon as we talk about the law, the Ten Commandments, and Sinai,
we hear the refrain that the Ten Commandments were first given to
the Jews at Sinai; hence, the commandments are a Jewish or an Old
Testament institution and not applicable to our day and time.
Of course, numerous problems exist with that theology, the biggest
being that if this were true, then how could there have been sin before
Sinai, “for sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4)? The truth
is that the book of Genesis yields an amazing witness to the existence
of God’s law long before Sinai.
Genesis 1 and 2 describe God’s perfect Creation. Genesis 3 records
the fall of Adam and Eve. In the next chapter, Genesis 4, we have
the first murder. How did Cain know he was guilty for murdering his
brother if there were no law to define murder as sin?
Long before Sinai, God specifically denounced murder in the cov-
enant He established with Noah after the Flood (Gen. 9:6).
In the oldest book in the Bible, the book of Job, we find God com-
mending Job’s righteousness two times. What does He declare of
Job’s character? (Job 1:8, 2:3). Obviously, a standard of right and
wrong is operating. Job lived long before the Exodus, and he wasn’t
even of the covenant line.
Read
Job 24:14, 15. How do these verses help us to understand what
the standard of right and wrong included?
When Abraham lied about Sarah to Abimelech, God rebuked Abraham
for his falsehood. And even though Abimelech was king of Gerar and
not of Israelite stock, God held him to the same standard of marital
purity found in the Decalogue and demanded that Sarah be returned
to Abraham (see Gen. 20:9).
What
pointed testimony about Abraham does God give to Isaac
about his father? Gen. 26:4, 5.
What’s fascinating about Genesis 26:5 is that the Hebrew uses four
different words, mshmrt, mzvot, huqot, and torot (from Torah, “the
law”) to describe what Abraham obeyed. Certainly among all these
were the Ten Commandments.
When Jacob, at God’s bidding, was returning to Bethel to build an
altar to the Lord, he felt the need for revival in his household. What
did he request his household to do? (See Gen. 35:2, 3.)
Clearly, the idea that there was no law until Sinai makes no sense in
light of so much of what the Bible teaches about life before Sinai.
49
Tu e s d a y
February 7
The Sabbath Before Sinai
God doesn’t reveal how He communicated the eternal principles
of His law to humanity before Mount Sinai, but the evidence is clear
and substantial that the giving of the law on Sinai was not the world’s
initial exposure to its precepts.
Many people, forced to concede that point, argue, instead, that it
was only the Sabbath commandment, not the others, that was first
given at Sinai, and, therefore, it is exclusively Jewish and doesn’t
pertain to Christians today. How valid is that claim?
Read
Genesis 2:1–3. What does this passage teach us about the
Sabbath before Sinai?
Next, in Exodus 5:1–5, the Bible reveals Moses and Aaron strug-
gling with Pharaoh in regard to the question of letting Israel go. Verse
five is particularly enlightening.
Read
Exodus 5:5. What indication is there of the Sabbath in this text?
Pharaoh’s response, “You make them rest from their labor” (NKJV),
seems clear enough. The original language reads even more pointedly.
Although there are several words for rest, the verb Pharaoh uses is built
on the word for “Sabbath.” The striking language of Pharaoh to Moses
and Aaron reads like this, “You make them sabbath from their labor!”
a hint, if nothing else, to the reality of the Sabbath rest before Sinai.
Proof of the Sabbath before Sinai, though, appears in Exodus 16,
when God miraculously provides manna for Israel in the wilderness.
This 40-year miracle began before the Israelites reached Mount Sinai.
Read
Exodus 16:4–30, focusing especially on verses 23–30. How
do these verses prove the existence of the seventh-day Sabbath
before the Mount Sinai experience?
Notice the words of the Lord to Moses in verse 28, “How long do
you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?” (NKJV), a
clear indication that God’s laws and commandments existed before
the revelation at Sinai, and that among those commandments and
laws was the seventh-day Sabbath. Thus, although something monu-
mental happened with the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, the Ten
Commandments themselves obviously weren’t new.
How is your Sabbath experience? Do you love the Sabbath,
dread it, or are you ambivalent about it? What can you do to
have a deeper and richer experience with the Lord through the
gift of His Sabbath day?
50
We d n e s d a y
February 8
The Law and the Prophets
Little controversy exists over the existence of the law in the period
after Sinai. The Old Testament writings are filled with references
to the law. And though, so often, those references deal with Israel’s
transgression of the law and the subsequent punishments, other texts
reveal the great love and reverence many in Israel had for the law,
which included not just the Ten Commandments but all of the rules
and precepts that the Lord had given to His people.
In
what ways do the following texts extoll the law? What attitudes do
they reveal?
Isa. 48:17, 18____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Ps. 119:69–72 ___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Ps. 119:97–103___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Jer. 31:33_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Contrary to popular beliefs, although Israel (ideally) loved the law,
those who understood the law’s function never saw it as a means of
salvation. The Hebrew religion had always been a religion of grace,
even though the people went from one extreme to the other: from
trampling the law openly and blatantly, as in the first-temple period,
to extreme legalism, as seen so clearly in the time of Jesus.
Why, though, such a love of the law? Again, if one understands
the word law to encompass not just the Ten Commandments but the
whole body of Old Testament teachings, especially the first five books
of Moses, then you understand that what was loved was the message
of salvation, of grace, of redemption. They loved the “truth” as it was
revealed to them and as they best grasped it. It wasn’t a love of rules,
per se, but a love of a set of guidelines and principles that, if kept, would
have opened the way for many blessings and promises, because all that
God had given them was for their own good and well-being.
Is it any different today?
Think about what God has given us as a people. How could we
better live out the wonderful light with which we have been
blessed?
51
Th u r s d a y
February 9
The Law in the New Covenant
From the start, the principles of the Ten Commandments were given
to humanity out of the Lord’s love for people. The law has always been
intended to be a blessing. You obey the law, and you are greatly protected
from the ravages of sin; you disobey, and you face the inevitable conse-
quences of transgression. Who needs theology to know, personally, just
how painful sin and its consequences are? How often can you read the
results of sin on the faces of those who have been ravaged by it?
Although sections of the New Testament—Paul’s writing specif-
ically—deal with those who have misunderstood the purpose of the
law, the commandments of God have been presented in the New
Testament in a positive, uplifting way.
Read
Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16 in their contexts. How is God’s law
presented in these texts? As something still relevant, or as some-
thing negated by grace?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
So often, we see people seeking to place the law in opposition to God’s
love or God’s grace, the idea being that if you truly love, then God’s law
is negated. One could argue that love transcends the law, in the sense that
one who truly loves God and others reveals the ultimate principles of
the law. But this is no excuse for negating the law. On the contrary, love
fulfills the law; love is the law expressed in its purest form.
It’s like the parts of a car. The parts don’t exist as ends in them-
selves; they are there so that the car will go from place to place. That’s
their purpose, so that the car can move. Yet, without each part, the car
wouldn’t function. The law is like that: it’s not an end in itself but the
means to an end, and that end is a deep expression of love, love for
God and love for others.
Look
up these texts. How do they help us to understand the link between
love and law? Rom. 13:8–10; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8; 1 John 5:2, 3.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Dwell more on the links between God’s law and love. Law-
keeping without love leads to what? Love without law-keeping
leads to what? Write out your thoughts and bring them to class
on Sabbath.
52
fr i d a y
February 10
Further Study:
The ten holy precepts spoken by Christ upon Sinai’s
mount were the revelation of the character of God, and made known
to the world the fact that He had jurisdiction over the whole human
heritage. That law of ten precepts of the greatest love that can be
presented to man is the voice of God from heaven speaking to the
soul in promise. ‘This do, and you will not come under the dominion
and control of Satan.’ There is not a negative in that law, although it
may appear thus. It is DO, and Live. . . . The Lord has given His holy
commandments to be a wall of protection around His created beings.”
—Ellen G. White, Sons and Daughters of God, p. 53.
“In the work of redemption there is no compulsion. No external
force is employed. Under the influence of the Spirit of God, man
is left free to choose whom he will serve. In the change that takes
place when the soul surrenders to Christ, there is the highest sense of
freedom. . . . True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan’s
control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great
need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the
soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they
obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God.
“The only condition upon which the freedom of man is possible is
that of becoming one with Christ. ‘The truth shall make you free;’ and
Christ is the truth. . . . Subjection to God is restoration to one’s self,—
to the true glory and dignity of man. The divine law, to which we are
brought into subjection, is ‘the law of liberty.’ James 2:12.”—Ellen
G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 466.
Discussion Questions:
l Discuss your answer to Thursday’s questions about law and love.
What is law-keeping without love like? How is it often manifested?
At the same time, what is love without law-keeping like? What kind
of love is it, if love at all? Why do they need to be linked?
l In what ways does the law reveal the character of the Lawgiver?
How does God’s law reveal to us what God is like?
l What does Ellen White mean when she talks above about the law
being a “law of liberty”? How can the keeping of the law be equated
with “liberty”?
l What examples can we find in the world, and all around us, of
what happens when people violate God’s law? How powerful a
testimony are these examples of the value and continued validity
of that law?
Summary:
God’s law is an expression of His love, and when we love as
God loves us, we will truly reveal the law in all its beauty and power.
1
2
3
1
3
2
4
S
tor
i n s i d e
53
Determined to Serve
by en k h c h i m e G en k h b a a T a r
Eggie’s family wasn’t religious, but when a classmate in secondary
school invited her to attend church with her, Eggie agreed to go. She knew
that her parents didn’t mind, for her mother had told her that worshiping
God was a good thing.
Her friend’s church was a small group of 20 or 30 people who met on
Sabbaths. Most were young people, and Eggie loved the vibrant worship
service these youth led out in. Eggie invited her younger sister to attend,
and eventually both girls were baptized.
Eggie finished high school and looked forward to studying to become
a teacher. But her older sister was already studying at a university, and
her parents couldn’t afford to support two girls in university at once.
Disappointed, Eggie found work as a waitress and saved money to study.
Eggie helped start a small group Bible study in another family’s home.
Her church family saw her leadership abilities and helped Eggie get a
scholarship to begin her studies. Joyfully Eggie journeyed to Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia’s capital city, to begin her studies.
She found a vibrant church family where she can grow spiritually. She
teaches the children’s class in church and hopes that when Mongolia
opens a Seventh-day Adventist elementary school, she can teach there. In
the meantime, she encourages other Seventh-day Adventist young people
to stay true to God and the beliefs they treasure.
In the dormitory where she lives, Eggie shares her faith with her school-
mates. “My friends want to know what I believe,” she says. “I give them
books about my faith and copies of my Sabbath School lessons. I invite
them to church and share with them my joy in Jesus.”
Eggie prays for her younger sister, who is working as a missionary vol-
unteer while she awaits her turn to attend the
university. “God is leading us, and we rejoice
that we are working with Him to lead others to
Jesus,” Eggie says.
Mongolia is a small but growing mission
field that relies on our mission offerings to
help grow the church. Thank you for your part
in this important ministry.
en k h c h i m e G en k h b a a T a r (left) works for the Mongolian
Mission.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
US$17.99
ISBN 10: 0-8163-2397-6
Hardcover
©2011 Pacific Press
®
Publishing Association
Please contact your ABC for pricing in Canada.
15590291
Ty Gibson
What if you’re the object
of an unstoppable love?
Science can’t explain why,
but the deepest human
desire is to love and be
loved. Is it possible that
we are beings in need of
giving and receiving love
because we were made in the image of a loving God? Is
it possible that this God of love is searching for you?
56
L e s s o n
7
*February 11–17
Lord of the Sabbath
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
Gen. 2:1–3, Exod. 20:8–12,
Deut. 5:12–15, Matt. 12:1–13, John 9, 19:30.
Memory Text:
‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man
for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the
Sabbath’ ” (Mark 2:27, 28, NKJV).
Key Thought:
The seventh-day Sabbath, in every way, points us
to Jesus, our Creator and our Redeemer.
I
n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things
were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light
shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a
man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness,
to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He
was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the
true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was
in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:1–13).
These verses are, of course, pointing to Jesus, Jesus as the One who
made “all things” and Jesus as the One who gives salvation to those who
“believe on his name.” That is, Jesus as Creator and Jesus as Redeemer.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 18.
57
Su n d a y
February 12
The Sabbath in Genesis
One of the most deeply imbedded truths of the Bible is this: back
in Eden, in a perfect world created by a perfect God, the seventh day
was set apart from the rest of the week and made holy. That’s how
far back, and basic, the seventh-day Sabbath is. From the perspective
of this world, you can’t get much farther back than that. With the
Sabbath, then, we’re dealing with one of the most fundamental and
foundational of all biblical truths.
What
four actions of God are recorded in Genesis 2:1–3 as He cre-
ated the Sabbath?
God created a day, He rested on that day, He blessed the seventh
day, and He sanctified it, which means He made it holy or set it
apart for holy use. How fascinating that God Himself “rested” on the
seventh day. Whatever that means, it shows how seriously the day is
meant to be taken, because God Himself rested on it!
Genesis 2:3 states that the Creator “blessed” the seventh day, just as
He blessed animals and man on the day before (Gen. 1:22, 28). God
refers to this blessing of the Sabbath in the fourth commandment,
forever linking the Creation Sabbath with the weekly Sabbath.
Notice
how many times the phrase “the seventh day” is repeated in
Genesis 2:1–3. What possible significance does that repetition have?
Three times that specific day is mentioned. This accentuates the
extraordinary nature of the seventh-day Sabbath and clearly sets it
apart from the rest of the week. It should always remind us that God
didn’t make the first day special, or any other day. The special bless-
ing is for the seventh day and no other.
With the creation of the seventh-day Sabbath, God ended His creative
work. He took the seven days of time and crafted them into a week.
This weekly cycle is observed throughout the rest of Scripture and his-
tory. Thus, God demonstrates His manifold power over not just space
and the things of space but over time, as well. None of us can control
an hour, or even a minute, of time. Time relentlessly marches on, com-
pletely beyond our machinations. How important, then, that we learn to
trust the Lord with the little amount of time we have here on earth.
Think about the march of time, how it sweeps us along moment
by moment, day by day, and year by year. Although we have no
control over time itself, what we can control to some degree is
what we do with it. How well do you use your time? What things
occupy your time? How might you use your time better?
______________________________________________________
58
Mo n d a y
February 13
The Sabbath in Exodus
Read
Exodus 20:8–11. What does the Lord tell us to do, and what
reason does He give us to do it?
The entire family household, including any servants of either
gender, the working class along with the “boss,” are to rest together.
Sabbath is the great equalizer, the liberator of all inequities in the
social structure. Before God, all human beings are equal, and the
Sabbath is a unique way of revealing this crucial truth, especially in
a world so dominated by class structures that place various groups
“over” or “beneath” others.
This commandment is also a carefully structured literary unit:
A. Introduction: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (vs.
8, NKJV).
B. Command: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work” (vs.
9, NKJV).
C. Motivation: “but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lo r d
your God” (vs. 10a, NKJV).
B1. Command: “In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor
. . .” (vs. 10b, NKJV).
C1. Motivation: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the
earth, the sea, . . . and rested . . .” (vs. 11a, NKJV).
D. Conclusion: “Therefore the Lo r d blessed the Sabbath day and
hallowed it” (vs. 11b, NKJV).
A contains, as an introductory opening statement, the essential prin-
ciple of the Sabbath commandment as a whole.
B conveys the positive command to engage in work on six days.
B1 gives the corresponding prohibitive command of refraining from
any work on the Sabbath day, including the inclusive application to the
entire family. Even the domestic animals, as well as any guests in the
home, are included.
C and C1 supply the motivation for the commands. C acknowledges
the time factor in the six-days/seventh-day sequence by emphasizing
that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.”
C1 contains the formal motivation clause with the introductory “for”
or “because.” It presents the detailed motivation in terms of the Lord’s
six days of work and His resting on the seventh day, rooting it directly
in the first Sabbath of Creation week.
D is an independent clause, starting with a “Therefore” and also
forming the conclusion. The last words of the commandment, “and
made it holy,” correspond to the exhortation of the opening principle.
A “to keep it holy.” Both are linked to the holiness with which God
endows the Sabbath in Genesis 2:3.
59
Tu e s d a y
February 14
The Sabbath in Deuteronomy
Although Seventh-day Adventists are most familiar with the Sabbath
commandment as expressed in the book of Exodus, the Lord gave it
again (and all the other commandments) in the book of Deuteronomy.
What’s fascinating is that, although the commands appear in very
similar language, the language isn’t precisely the same. Moreover,
the commandment in Deuteronomy is given another motivation, one
not seen in Exodus.
Read
Deuteronomy 5:12–15. Compare it with Exodus 20:8–11. What
similarities exist between the two, what differences, and why are
those differences important?
_______________________________________________________
Although much is the same between them, there is a new element
and emphasis. While both commandments talk about the servants
resting on the Sabbath day, Deuteronomy goes out of its way to
emphasize that point. The text reads that they should keep the Sabbath
“so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do (Deut.
5:14, NIV; emphasis added). Here we see what was touched on the
other day: how the Sabbath helps bring master and servant together
on the same level; both are to rest on the same day. The Sabbath, on
a purely practical level, offered servants some protection from the
master who would work them nonstop—a protection built right into a
commandment that had its origins in Creation itself.
Of course, this raises an interesting question. When the Sabbath was
first instituted, it was to be a memorial of Creation in a nonfallen world.
It had nothing to do with manservants or maidservants and certainly noth-
ing about being in slavery in Egypt, itself a symbol of bondage to sin, and
deliverance from that bondage. This new element, then, had been added
onto the commandment after the Fall; that is, the original precept was
altered to incorporate something that it originally didn’t contain.
Thus, as first conceived, the Sabbath was a symbol of Creation; after
sin, it came to be a symbol of both Creation and Redemption, which is
itself a type of re-creation (2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15, Rev. 21:1). Creation
and Redemption are closely linked in the Bible; only God the Creator
could be God the Redeemer, and we have them both in Jesus (see John
1:1–14). Both versions of the commandment show that the seventh-day
Sabbath is the symbol of the work of Jesus, our Creator and our Redeemer.
Think about the bondage from which Christ has promised to
free you. What promises of freedom do you have in Jesus? How
can you learn to claim them and then allow the Lord to make
them real in your life?
60
We d n e s d a y
February 15
Jesus and His Sabbath: Part 1
Books have been written, and are still being written, with the sole
purpose of showing that Jesus, when here in the flesh, was pointing
people away from the seventh-day Sabbath, either toward Sunday
worship or (more commonly today) toward the idea that the seventh
day has been superceded and replaced with a more generic and gen-
eral “rest” in Christ.
Neither option, though, seems to be found in any of the Gospel
accounts of Jesus and the Sabbath. Besides the obvious reason for
such books (a need to justify the rejection of the seventh-day Sabbath
by the vast majority of the Christian world for centuries), they argue
Christ’s healing on the Sabbath heralds the death knell of that com-
mandment.
What about these arguments? A careful look at what Jesus did on
the Sabbath shows the opposite of what these theologians are trying
to milk out of the incidents themselves.
Carefully
read Matthew 12:1–13, focusing specifically on the Sabbath
healing. As you read it, ask yourself, What is the context of the
healing, why would Jesus have done it specifically on that day,
and what is the major point that He is clearly making?
Perhaps the key verse, the one that explains it all, is verse 7. This
is what the issue was all about: it was about people, about mercy
and kindness and loving others. Properly kept, the Sabbath allows us
more opportunity to show kindness and mercy to those in need than
would other days of the week when we are forced to earn a living.
The problem was that the Sabbath day had become burdened with a
host of man-made rules and regulations that soon became an end in
themselves rather than the means to an end—and that end is love to
God and to other people. Love, the Bible says, is the fulfilling of the
law, and anything that turns the law into that which negates love, or
that which works against love, is something that must be discarded.
The Sabbath had become law without love, which is harsh legalism.
This is what Jesus was fighting against by His Sabbath healing.
The hardness of the religious establishment could be seen in the
healing of the man blind from birth (John 9). Look carefully at verse
16. Talk about law without love!
In the end, if Jesus were using His Sabbath healing to start point-
ing people away from the literal seventh-day Sabbath, it sure was a
strange way to do it.
Ask yourself, What are other ways one can manifest the law
without love? Might you be guilty of doing the same thing?
61
Th u r s d a y
February 16
Jesus and His Sabbath: Part 2
“It is finished” (John 19:30).
Jesus, through His Sabbath miracles, demonstrated what the
Sabbath is really about. It is a day for healing and restoration. Jesus
intended for the Sabbath to call to mind God’s creative power. Thus,
the Sabbath is the day when He frees the captives (Luke 4:31–37),
makes the lame walk (Luke 13:10–17, John 5:1–9), and restores sight
to the blind (John 9).
For Jesus, the Sabbath was more about people than about rules,
which is no doubt partly why He made His famous statement about
the Sabbath being made for humankind and not humankind for the
Sabbath. At the same time, as we saw earlier in the week, if properly
kept, the rules protected people.
Jesus
not only reinforced the validity and importance of resting on
the Sabbath while He was alive, but He did it in death, as well.
(Read Matt. 27:57–28:1, Mark 15:42–16:1, Luke 23:52–24:1, and
John 19:31–20:1.) What’s the one common point all four Gospel
writers make here? More important, what does this tell us about
the Sabbath, especially in the context of the question of whether
or not the Sabbath is still valid?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
After He cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), that is, after His
work of Redemption (prior to His heavenly intercession) was done,
what did Jesus do?
He rested on the seventh day. Sound familiar? Where have we
already seen that? Of course, in Genesis 2:1–3. After God’s work
of creation, He rested on the seventh day. Now, after His work of
Redemption, He does the same thing.
Also, in light of the whole question of Jesus’ moving humanity
away from the seventh-day Sabbath, His example of resting in the
tomb on the Sabbath is, indeed, another strange way of getting that
point across. If anything, especially because His death sealed the new
covenant, and the new covenant supposedly supercedes the seventh-
day Sabbath, one is hard pressed to understand the logic of those who
believe that the Sabbath commandment was abolished after the Cross.
If it were abolished, why would resting on the Sabbath be the first
thing Jesus did after the Cross?
Thus, both in life and in death, Jesus showed us the continued valid-
ity and importance of the Sabbath.
62
fr i d a y
February 17
Further Study:
“Should God forbid the sun to perform its office upon
the Sabbath, cut off its genial rays from warming the earth and nourish-
ing vegetation? Must the system of worlds stand still through that holy
day? Should He command the brooks to stay from watering the fields
and forests, and bid the waves of the sea still their ceaseless ebbing and
flowing? Must the wheat and corn stop growing, and the ripening cluster
defer its purple bloom? Must the trees and flowers put forth no bud nor
blossom on the Sabbath?
“In such a case, men would miss the fruits of the earth, and the bless-
ings that make life desirable. Nature must continue her unvarying course.
God could not for a moment stay His hand, or man would faint and die.
And man also has a work to perform on this day. The necessities of life
must be attended to, the sick must be cared for, the wants of the needy
must be supplied. He will not be held guiltless who neglects to relieve
suffering on the Sabbath. God’s holy rest day was made for man, and acts
of mercy are in perfect harmony with its intent. God does not desire His
creatures to suffer an hour’s pain that may be relieved upon the Sabbath
or any other day.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 206, 207.
Discussion Questions:
l It’s easy today, with hindsight, to mock the hardness and coldness
of those religious leaders who attacked Jesus for His Sabbath healing.
And they certainly will be judged for their actions. At the same time,
try to put yourself in their sandals. These man-made rules had been
around for so long that these leaders all but thought the rules were
the very essence of Sabbath-keeping itself; hence, they truly believed
that Jesus was violating the Sabbath. How would we feel were some-
one to come along today and, claiming great light and truth, maybe
even doing miracles, yet was in our view trampling on the fourth
commandment? How might we react? What important lesson can we
learn from this exercise about knowing how to separate truth from
mere tradition and why it is not always easy to do so?
l Further examine in class this idea that God rested after His work
of Creation and His work of Redemption. How are we to under-
stand the significance of this amazing fact?
l Place yourself in the shoes of someone who believes that Jesus’
miracles on the Sabbath showed that He was abolishing it. Compare
what the Bible teaches He said and did with what you would imag-
ine Him doing were He really making this change. What do you
imagine He would have done differently?
Summary:
The Bible reveals the Lord as the Lord of the seventh-day
Sabbath, the most basic sign of Him as Creator and Redeemer.
1
2
3
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3
2
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tor
i n s i d e
63
Raquel’s New Church
Raquel is 10 years old. She lives with her family along the Amazon
River in northern Brazil. Raquel’s family doesn’t attend church, but some-
times Raquel attended church with her cousin on Sundays. One Sunday
evening Raquel’s cousin didn’t come to take her to church. Disappointed,
Raquel wandered outside.
She heard people singing in the Seventh-day Adventist church near her
home. She hurried back inside and asked her mother to let her go to the
Seventh-day Adventist worship service since her cousin hadn’t come for
her. Her mother agreed, and Raquel hurried down the street to the church.
The members greeted Raquel warmly; she was happy that she had
come. She enjoyed the worship service and decided to return. One of the
members invited her to come for Sabbath School; so on Saturday morning
when Raquel heard people singing in the little church, she hurried down
the street to join them.
Raquel loved Sabbath School, where the children helped her learn new
songs and the teachers made Bible stories so interesting. Raquel contin-
ued worshiping at the Seventh-day Adventist church. When her cousin
invited her to go to church again, Raquel told her that she had found a
new church.
Raquel has joined Pathfinders, and she sings in a children’s choir. She
enjoys helping with the children’s programs at church. She has invited
her family to come to church with her, and her mother and brother have
visited several times. Although they don’t always attend, they are glad
that Raquel wants to worship God. “I feel that I’m a light shining in my
home,” she says.
Raquel learned that nearly everyone in the church is involved in one or
more small groups that meet during the week to study the Bible and talk
about God. Members invite their friends to come, and many people have
joined the church through these small groups. Raquel wanted to learn how
to lead a small group, so she took a class. Now she leads a small group
just for children. Raquel invites her friends from school to attend the small
group and encourages the other children to invite their friends as well.
Raquel has learned that there’s power in group prayer. When her father
was seriously ill, she asked the small groups at church to join her in pray-
ing for him. Her father recovered, and she told him that she’s sure his
recovery was in answer to the prayers of her church friends. Her father
has promised to visit her church one day. Raquel can’t wait for him to
keep that promise.
Our mission offerings support gospel outreach in Brazil and throughout the world. Thank
you for your support.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
64
L e s s o n
8
*February 18–24
Creation Care
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
2 Pet. 3:10–14, Rom. 1:25,
Psalm 100, Heb. 1:3, Gen. 2:15, Neh. 13:16–19, Gen. 1:26–28.
Memory Text:
“And the Lo r d God took the man, and put him into
the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15).
Key Thought:
How should Christians relate to the environment?
W
hat should we, as Seventh-day Adventists, think about the
environment, especially because we know that this earth is
corrupted, will continue to be corrupted, and will one day
be destroyed, burned up in a great lake of fire: “and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10)? Add to this the biblical injunction
about humans having “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Gen. 1:26), and
it’s no wonder that, at times, we struggle with how to relate to envi-
ronmental concerns.
At the same time, as stewards of all God’s gifts, don’t we have an
obligation to take care of the earth? After all, didn’t God create it and
pronounce it “very good”? As a people with a distinct message about
God as Creator (Rev. 14:6, 7), shouldn’t we have something to say
about the question of how we treat God’s creation?
This week we’ll explore what the Bible says about some of these
concerns.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 25.
65
Su n d a y
February 19
The Lobster Liberation Movement!
Years ago an environmentalist entered a seafood restaurant. There
before him, sitting in a large tank, were half a dozen Maine lobsters that
probably wouldn’t last the night. A customer would pick out the one that
he or she wanted to eat, and before long the lobster would be sitting on
someone’s plate next to, perhaps, a potato smothered in cheese.
Moving stealthily, the environmentalist reached into the tank, grabbed
the first lobster he could get his hands on, threw it into a bag, and ran.
He then put the lobster in a tank in his car and drove to the shore. There,
a helicopter took him over the ocean, and he then returned the lobster to
the water. A lobster liberator strikes again!
The man was not alone in his concern. You can visit a Web site titled
“Lobster Liberation” that talks about saving lobsters from getting eaten
by humans. It even has a section called Tips for Releasing Lobsters,
telling you what to do once you rescue lobsters from a restaurant.
Another time, an American actress dedicated an entire episode of her
sitcom to smuggling lobsters out of restaurants and releasing them in the
ocean.
Caring about the environment is one thing, but stealing a lobster out of
a restaurant and taking it, by helicopter, back to the ocean does seem a
bit extreme, does it not?
All of which leads to the question, what about Christians—indeed,
Seventh-day Adventist Christians—and the environment? Putting aside the
strangeness of the lobster liberators, how should we relate to environmen-
tal concerns? After all, isn’t Jesus coming soon? Isn’t our whole message
predicated on the notion that this world is coming to an end, that this earth
is corrupted and not going to last? Given our understanding of the Second
Coming, how concerned need we really be about the earth itself?
Read
2 Peter 3:10–14, Isaiah 51:6, 65:17, and Revelation 21:1. What
does the Bible clearly teach about the ultimate fate of the earth?
How should this teaching impact the way we look at the environ-
ment? Or should it at all?
The Bible is more than unequivocal: this world, this earth, will not
last. It is destined to be destroyed by God, who promises to make
it over, to re-create it, to make a “new heaven and a new earth.”
Although that’s hardly an excuse (as we’ll see this week) to abuse or
exploit the environment, it should at the same time help to protect us
from making a god, as many have done, out of the earth and of the
environment. While we can laugh at the extremists, we need to be
careful not to get caught up in those extremes ourselves.
Read Romans 1:25. What important message should we take in
regard to how we show our concern and care for the creation?
66
Mo n d a y
February 20
A Statement on Creation Care
How, then, do Seventh-day Adventists view the question of the envi-
ronment? How do we get involved and yet seek to keep a right balance?
Below is an official statement, voted by the church leadership back in
1995.
“Seventh-day Adventists believe that humankind was created in the
image of God, thus representing God as His stewards, to rule the natural
environment in a faithful and fruitful way.
“Unfortunately, corruption and exploitation have been brought into the
management of the human domain of responsibility. Increasingly men
and women have been involved in a megalomaniacal destruction of the
earth’s resources, resulting in widespread suffering, environmental disar-
ray, and the threat of climate change. While scientific research needs to
continue, it is clear from the accumulated evidence that the increasing
emission of destructive gasses, the depletion of the protective mantle of
ozone, the massive destruction of the American forests, and the so-called
greenhouse effect, are all threatening the earth’s ecosystem.
“These problems are largely due to human selfishness and the egocen-
tric pursuit of getting more and more through ever-increasing production,
unlimited consumption and depletion of nonrenewable resources. The
ecological crisis is rooted in humankind’s greed and refusal to practice
good and faithful stewardship within the divine boundaries of creation.
“Seventh-day Adventists advocate a simple, wholesome lifestyle,
where people do not step on the treadmill of unbridled consumerism,
goods-getting, and production of waste. We call for respect of creation,
restraint in the use of the world’s resources, reevaluation of one’s
needs, and reaffirmation of the dignity of created life.”—Adventist
Administrative Committee (ADCOM), released at General Conference
Session in Utrecht, the Netherlands, June 29–July 8, 1995.
Look
up the following texts. How do they help us to understand the
reasoning behind this church statement? Gen. 1:1, 26; 9:7; Pss.
24:1; 100; James 5:1, 2, 4, 5; Heb. 1:3.
If anything, as Christians who believe that this world and the life and
resources on it are gifts from God, we should be at the forefront of seek-
ing to take care of it. If we believed that the earth is just a chance cre-
ation, the product of cold, uncaring forces, we could almost be excused
in seeking to exploit it to our own ends. When, though, we understand
this world as something that God created and sustains, it’s hard to see
how we could do anything other than be responsible stewards of it.
How might your own selfishness impact how you treat the envi-
ronment? And what’s wrong with the attitude that says, “Well,
I’m only one person, so what does it matter?”
67
Tu e s d a y
February 21
Creation Care
The issue of the environment, and caring for the environment, isn’t
specifically and openly addressed in the Bible. Of course, there are a lot
of specific issues that the Bible doesn’t address. What the Bible does do
again and again, is give us principles that should be applied to all areas of
life, which include the question of the environment.
Think
about Matthew 22:37–40. In what ways could the principles
taught here impact our attitude toward environmental concerns,
especially when misuse of the environment can have some very
detrimental effects on others?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Early on in the Bible, we are given some indication of human-
ity’s call to be a steward of what God had given Adam on the earth.
Although the context is very specific, it’s hard to see why the prin-
ciple shouldn’t continue.
Genesis
2:15 reads, “And the Lo r d God took the man, and put him
into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” How does this
reveal the way in which humankind was originally intended to
relate to the earth?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Notice the reciprocal relationship here. God created this beautiful
environment for the man; it was given to him as a gift. And yet, see
how Adam was supposed to relate to it. He was to work it and to keep
it. The word translated as “keep” comes from the Hebrew root smr,
which means “to watch” or “to preserve” or “to protect.” Thus, right
from the start, even in the pre-Fall world, Adam was called to be a
steward of the environment in which he was placed. God didn’t tell
him to exploit it, to use it for his own selfish means, and to get out of
it all that he could. Instead, he is told to work it and protect it.
What reason could we have for believing that this principle has
changed? In fact, if this is what Adam was called to do in a world
before sin entered, how much more important would good steward-
ship of the world be after it has been damaged by sin?
How conscious are you of environmental concerns? How much
do you really even care about them? How important or unim-
portant are they to you? Bring your answer to class on Sabbath.
68
We d n e s d a y
February 22
Sabbath and the Environment
“Hell and Destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are
never satisfied” (Prov. 27:20, NKJV). How does the truth of this
text directly impact the whole question of creation care and the
danger our exploits pose to the environment?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
As the creation statement said, part of the reason for the issue with our
environment today has to do with “human selfishness and the egocentric
pursuit of getting more and more through ever-increasing production,
unlimited consumption and depletion of nonrenewable resources. In
other words, people just want more and more, and the only place they can
get it is, ultimately, from the earth. Using natural resources, though, isn’t
the problem; instead, the problem is that no matter how much a person
gets, it’s never enough. When was the last time you heard someone, no
matter how wealthy, say that they had enough money?
In the midst of all this, God has given humanity the gift of the
Sabbath.
Look
up these Sabbath texts. Although we tend to think about them
in other contexts, try thinking about them in the context of how
Sabbath keeping, by commanding us to rest from our work, to
rest from seeking to make money and do business, could in a very
real way impact the environment for good.
Exod. 20:8–11____________________________________________
Neh. 13:16–19____________________________________________
Sure, the Sabbath is about remembering that God created the world
(which itself should make us conscious about how we treat it), but it is
also about resting from the pursuit of making money. By keeping the
Sabbath, by purposely taking one seventh of our lives every week and,
without exception, not pursuing wealth and money and goods, we not
only have a powerful weekly reminder that life isn’t all about making
money, but we also often refrain from the kind of pursuits that, when
overdone, do damage to the earth.
How has Sabbath keeping been a means of helping to restrain
your own greed and desire for more? How often has the lure of
money tempted you to violate the Sabbath?
69
Th u r s d a y
February 23
Humankind’s Dominion
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our like-
ness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. . . .
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have domin-
ion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Gen. 1:26 28).
In
the above verses we have some of the Bible’s earliest references to
the way in which humanity is to relate to the created world. Read
them over prayerfully and carefully, thinking about them in the
context of creation care and environmental concerns, and then
answer the following questions:
• How complete was humanity’s control over the earth to be?
_______________________________________________________
What does it mean to subdue, and to have dominion over, the earth
and all that was in it? What, if anything in the texts, gives humanity
the license to abuse and defile that creation?
_______________________________________________________
Genesis 1:28 says that they are to “replenish the earth.” The literal
Hebrew means to “fill the earth.” How might that be understood in
regard to the question of how the earth should be treated?
_______________________________________________________
No question, humanity was to rule over the earth, at least under the
power and direction of the Lord. The fact that these verses were given in
the pre-Fall world, a world without sin and death and suffering, should
teach us that whatever dominion over the world means, it doesn’t mean
a violent exploitation and plundering of the world, for those things cer-
tainly would not have happened in a world before sin. Whatever subduing
and dominion entailed, it didn’t entail destroying that world.
Of course, a lot has changed since then: the Fall, the Flood, the
curse (Gen. 3:17–19), and the general degeneration caused by sin as
a whole. Yet, one would be hard pressed to see in these texts anything
that justifies the plunder and ruin of the planet itself. If anything, we can
see in these texts humankind’s responsibility, as ruler of the world, to
take care of it, because God created it, and it was “very good.”
70
fr i d a y
February 24
Further Study:
“In the beginning, God was revealed in all the works
of creation. It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations
of the earth. It was His hand that hung the worlds in space, and fashioned
the flowers of the field. ‘His strength setteth fast the mountains.’ ‘The sea
is His, and He made it.’ Ps. 65:6; 95:5. It was He that filled the earth with
beauty, and the air with song. And upon all things in earth, and air, and
sky, He wrote the message of the Father’s love.
“Now sin has marred God’s perfect work, yet that handwriting
remains. Even now all created things declare the glory of His excel-
lence. There is nothing, save the selfish heart of man, that lives unto
itself. No bird that cleaves the air, no animal that moves upon the
ground, but ministers to some other life. There is no leaf of the forest,
or lowly blade of grass, but has its ministry. Every tree and shrub and
leaf pours forth that element of life without which neither man nor
animal could live; and man and animal, in turn, minister to the life
of tree and shrub and leaf. The flowers breathe fragrance and unfold
their beauty in blessing to the world. The sun sheds its light to gladden
a thousand worlds. The ocean, itself the source of all our springs and
fountains, receives the streams from every land, but takes to give. The
mists ascending from its bosom fall in showers to water the earth, that
it may bring forth and bud.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages,
pp. 20, 21.
Discussion Questions:
l As a class, go over your answers to Tuesday’s final ques-
tions.
l How would you respond to the person who says, “Jesus is
coming soon, so why should I care about the environment”?
l How can we as Christians strike the right balance in our
understanding of the need to be concerned about the environ-
ment while at the same time not getting caught up in some of the
extremist movements involved in environmental issues? Why is
it so important that we don’t get caught up in them, especially
those that are very political?
l If you have the resources, do some research on just how bene-
ficial a vegetarian diet is to the environment in contrast to a
meat-eating one. Discuss your findings with the rest of the class.
Summary:
No question, this world is coming to an end; it will not
last forever. And yes, Jesus is coming soon. All that’s true, but noth-
ing in these truths gives us the right, or the mandate, to defile the
earth. If anything, as Christians, we should seek to take care of the
world that our God has created for us.
1
2
3
1
4
2
3
S
tor
i n s i d e
71
The Obstinate Professor
by jo n y er n e s T o
Jony Ernesto lives in Angola, a country in southwestern Africa. He is
studying to become a teacher. He attends a government university where
classes are held Monday through Saturday. Jony and the other Seventh-
day Adventist students at the school simply skip classes that are scheduled
on Sabbaths. And when their exams are scheduled for Sabbaths, they ask
permission to take the exams on another day. Because there are many
Seventh-day Adventist students in Angola, most teachers allowed stu-
dents Sabbath privileges.
Jony’s math teacher had two Seventh-day Adventists in his class, but he
refused to reschedule an exam planned for Sabbath. “Whoever misses this
class will receive a zero exam grade,” the teacher threatened. When Jony
and the other Seventh-day Adventist student pleaded for him to recon-
sider, the teacher told them, “Other students take their tests on Saturday,
and I expect you to do so too. God likes you to have a good education.
Skip church and take the test.”
Jony and his friend quietly left the teacher’s office. The boys knew
that they would fail the test, but they weren’t ready to give up yet. They
agreed to pray about the exam and for the teacher some more. Jony went
home to pray and study. The next day a student leader found Jony and
told him, “I’ve been looking for you for an hour! The math teacher wants
to talk with you in his office—right away.” Jony found his Seventh-day
Adventist friend, and together the two hurried to the math teacher’s office.
They knocked gently at the teacher’s door and entered when invited. They
found their professor pacing the floor.
The teacher returned to his desk and invited the two students to sit
down. “I couldn’t sleep last night,” he began. “And it was because of you
two. I thought about you two and your Sabbath. I realize that your faith in
God is true and strong and powerful. Now I don’t want any problems with
your God, so I will let you take your math exam on Friday.”
Jony and his friend smiled broadly and thanked their teacher. They
promised to present themselves at the appointed time on Friday. After tak-
ing their exam, they again thanked their teacher for allowing them to take
the test early. On Sabbath when their classmates were taking the exam,
Jony and his friend stood in church to tell the congregation what God had
done for them in softening the heart of their once-obstinate teacher.
Our mission offerings help further the work in Angola, where almost
350,000 Adventists share their faith.
jo n y er n e s T o lives in Luanda, Angola.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
72
L e s s o n
9
*February 25–March 2
The Bible and History
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
Ps. 104:1–9, Rev. 1:1–3,
2 Pet. 1:21, Daniel 2, Rev. 12:7–17, Rom. 16:20, 2 Cor. 5:17–19.
Memory Text:
‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning
and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to
come, the Almighty’ (Revelation 1:8, NKJV).
Key Thought:
Our God works in and through history, and in
and through history He has given us powerful evidence for faith.
I
s human history a meaningless series of events, or is there a cen-
tral direction toward a specified goal, all according to a plan? The
Bible makes it clear that the latter is true. Bible writers in both
testaments insist that God directs history and reveals Himself in it.
Yet, not all history reveals God’s will: humans are free to make bad
choices, choices that influence history. The point is that just because God
works through history doesn’t mean He causes all that happens. What
it means, instead, is that, despite the machinations and evil of human
beings, God is there, working out His ultimate will and that He will bring
human history to a grand and glorious close.
Biblical Christians believe that the Bible writers operated within the
framework that God had revealed and that He inspired them to record the
most significant events in human history. God often even provides the
interpretation of these events so that we can understand what they mean.
This week we’ll explore a little of how God has worked in and through
world history.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 3.
73
Su n d a y
February 26
The Past and the Future
World history is usually taught as the history of civilizations. The
significant facts are generally the ones that have had a bearing on the
development of those civilizations. Some people argue that human
affairs are, like the rest of nature, essentially cyclical in character, mov-
ing endlessly through the cycle of birth, growth, maturity, decay, and
death in a series that does not have a beginning or any significant end.
The circular dial of a watch can be deceptive; as the hands revolve
around and around, they can give the illusion that time recurs in a cycle.
But this is not reality. The fact is that human life runs in a line, not in a
renewing circle. Time, according to the Bible, is a one-way street.
What
do biblical writers assert regarding human history’s beginning
and end? Gen. 1:1; Job 38:1–7; Ps. 104:1–9; Rev. 1:1–3, 19; 21:1–6.
_______________________________________________________
Human history is not an unending series of repeated cycles. It had
a definite beginning. It faces a glorious future. Human history has a
point, a goal. Normally, you cannot be sure what the point of a story
is until you have reached the end. There can always be surprises at the
end, and in the best stories there often are. How, then, can we, who
are still in this cosmic story, know the point? In our case, we know
because God has, through His prophets, revealed it to us.
We are talking, of course, about divine revelation. Our Lord knows
the future, knows all the possible choices humans can and will freely
make, and He has told us how it will turn out in the end, whatever
choices we make in the meantime.
How
is this revelation explained in the New Testament? 2 Pet. 1:21.
_______________________________________________________
Unless we distrust the Word of God and what it says about itself,
we can know that the Lord knows the end and has revealed it to us.
He’s not only the God of the past and the present, He’s the Lord of
the future, as well. Thus, we can trust that the future will unfold as
He has said it would.
How easy is it to predict the future? How often have you gotten
it wrong? The good news is that God does know the future, does
know all that will happen. How can you draw comfort from the
realization that a God of love knows about all that comes our
way?
74
Mo n d a y
February 27
The Prophets as Historians
All through the Bible, the prophets use the phrase, “The word of the
Lo r d (or an equivalent “Thus says the Lo r d ,” etc.). In short, what
they are saying is, I am not speaking these truths to you; it’s God
speaking them through me. So, you’d better listen.
How
is this idea revealed in the following verses? Jer. 1:14–19.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
The reader is allowed to see the painful historical process by which
the capital city Jerusalem is to be handed over to Babylon, in fulfill-
ment of God’s predictions of Israel’s fate.
Human kings, of course, rarely believe that history works this way.
They imagine that their governing decisions shape public life. They
think that they, ultimately, are in control. But Jeremiah (and other
prophets) assert otherwise. Israel’s rulers discover that the historical
process is leading the nation toward devastation and then exile. The
book of Jeremiah is a stunning reminder of the power of God’s Word
to be fulfilled in historical events.
How
do Isaiah and Nahum testify to this similar point? Isa. 14:
24–27, Nah. 1:5–10.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
This infinite power of God seen in human history is also exhibited
in nature. Psalm 104, for example, describes the processes of nature
not as a self-contained, autonomously functioning mechanism, but
rather as processes in which God is acting at every moment. The Bible
doesn’t portray God as having created the world and then leaving it
on its own in complete subjection to natural laws. Natural laws are,
indeed, part of how God sustains the world, but all of these laws are
there only because He created and sustains them.
Many scientists declare that the world began by accident and
that it will end that way, as well. Hence, there’s not much mean-
ing to all that comes in between (how could there be?). Why,
deep down, do you know that this view can’t be right?
75
Tu e s d a y
February 28
Daniel 2 and the Providence
of God in History
In the 1700s, a Frenchman, an atheist, speculated that because all of
the universe, including human actions, were predetermined by natural
laws—then, ideally, if someone could know all of those laws and all
the positions of all the particles in the universe at a given time, then
that person could know everything that would happen.
Of course, humans do have free will, free choice. God made us that
way. As beings who can love, we had to be given free choice, because
love that is forced cannot be love. To make us capable of love, God
had to make us free. And yet, God’s power is so great that, even with
human free will, He knows the future perfectly, regardless of the free
choices that we make.
Review
the prophecy of Daniel 2. In what ways is this one chapter
powerful evidence, proof even, that God knows the future, and
far in advance, too?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
This chapter was written more than twenty-six hundred years ago.
Look at how history has unfolded exactly as God predicted. In one
sense, this prophecy should be more meaningful for us today than for
those who lived millennia ago. And that’s because we, today, looking
back at history, can see exactly how these empires came and went,
just as predicted. If you had read this prophecy during the time of
Media-Persia, you wouldn’t have seen the rise and fall of the empires
that followed. Today, looking back, we can see much more than
someone from long ago could see. Thus, the prophecy holds a power
for us that those in the past couldn’t appreciate.
The amazing thing is that despite these millions of people, all with
free will, who lived during the long epochs depicted in Daniel 2, the
Lord knew exactly what was going to happen, what kingdoms would
rise and fall. And He knew it way in advance.
The prophet Daniel was right about the rise and fall of all those
kingdoms: Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome, includ-
ing the breakup of Rome into smaller powers that still exist
today. From where we stand in history, the only kingdom left is
the last one, God’s eternal kingdom (Dan. 2:44). If he was right
about all the ones so far, how foolish would it be not to trust him
about the last one?
76
We d n e s d a y
February 29
The Great Controversy and History
No matter how apparently chaotic, how seemingly out of control,
human history is not unfolding in a vacuum. There’s a story behind it,
a drama, a struggle between two radically different principles. We’re
talking, of course, about the great controversy. Only with that back-
ground can we even begin to get an understanding of human history
and what it all means.
How
do these texts help us to understand world history? Rev. 12:
7–17; Job 2:1, 2; Isa. 14:12–14; Gen. 3:15; Eph. 6:12; Rom. 16:20.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Satan is real, the battle is real, and only at the Cross was he defeated
and his destruction made certain.
“Heaven viewed with grief and amazement Christ hanging upon the
cross. . . . Yet there stood men, formed in the image of God, joining to
crush out the life of His only-begotten Son. What a sight for the heavenly
universe! . . .
“Satanic agencies confederated with evil men in leading the people to
believe Christ the chief of sinners, and to make Him the object of detesta-
tion. . . .
“Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid
open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had
revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God,
he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings.
. . . The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was
broken.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 760, 761.
Why was Satan not destroyed then?
“The angels did not even then understand all that was involved in the
great controversy. The principles at stake were to be more fully revealed.
And for the sake of man, Satan’s existence must be continued. Man as
well as angels must see the contrast between the Prince of light and the
prince of darkness. He must choose whom he will serve.”—The Desire
of Ages, p. 761.
What the Bible teaches, and Ellen White, too, is that events here on
earth are linked to the wider conflict, the great controversy between Christ
and Satan. This controversy forms the background motif for all that hap-
pens here, whether in our individual lives or in the larger course of human
history. Everything unfolds in the context of the great controversy. And
the good news is that, after the Cross, Satan’s defeat was guaranteed,
and this controversy will end, and with it all the pain and suffering and
violence and fear and uncertainty that fill human history.
77
Th u r s d a y
March 1
The Cross in History
Have you ever noticed that world history is divided by one event?
That event was not the rise or fall of some major empire, as one would
expect. Nor was it the discovery of a new continent. Instead, world
history has been divided by the birth of a single itinerant rabbi living
in a relatively obscure part of the vast Roman Empire. Considering
the vast number of Jews born at this time, it’s even more revealing
that this one birth, among so many, should be the marker that has
divided world history into its two largest epochs.
That birth, of course, is of Jesus.
In the context of God and history, we can better appreciate the sig-
nificance of salvation. For here, at the Cross—with the obvious failure
of all humans, and thus, human history—is where the background and
also the deepest meaning of world history unfold. The Cross tells us
that, by forgiving us and making us His children, God has opened up
a new future for us, a future in which we no longer need to drag along
with us the enormous guilt of our past or of our personal history. This
guilt has been taken away by One who “has borne our griefs and car-
ried our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4, NKJV).
The whole doctrine of salvation can be expressed in this one sen-
tence: God cancels our hopelessly stranded history and in its place
puts His history. Through Him, the history of slavery to sin is ended
in our life. Through Him, the stains of the past should not rise up to
accuse, torment, and mock us. Our personal history, which would
condemn each one of us, is replaced with Jesus’ perfect history. Thus,
in Him we find not only liberation from our past but the promise of
a wonderful future. At the Cross, the Lord guaranteed that, whatever
our history or whatever happened in world history, a new and glorious
future awaits us and the world.
Read
2 Corinthians 5:17–19. According to these verses what did Jesus
do for all humanity? How has this event changed human history?
_______________________________________________________
Our sins have been laid upon the shoulders of a Lord who willingly
died beneath a load of human guilt and who, in its place, gave us
salvation. And His promised climax of history will grant us eternal
history with the Author of history. The destiny of every person is
involved. The second coming of Christ will be decisive. Both the Old
and New Testaments promise a “new heaven and a new earth.”
If you have accepted Christ, how should your future be differ-
ent, now that your past history won’t be used to condemn you,
no matter how much you deserve to be condemned?
78
fr i d a y
March 2
Further Study:
“The Bible is the most ancient and the most com-
prehensive history that men possess. It came fresh from the fountain
of eternal truth, and throughout the ages a divine hand has preserved
its purity. . . . Here only do we find an authentic account of the origin
of nations. Here only is given a history of our race unsullied by human
pride or prejudice.
“In the annals of human history the growth of nations, the rise and fall
of empires, appear as dependent on the will and prowess of man. The
shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power,
ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside,
and we behold, behind, above, and through all the play and counterplay
of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of the all-
merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.
“The Bible reveals the true philosophy of history.”—Ellen G. White,
Education, p. 173.
Discussion Questions:
l For years, philosophers and theologians have debated the issue
of God’s foreknowledge and human free will. Many see the two
ideas as incompatible. They argue either that we don’t have free will
or that God doesn’t know the future. Why are both those positions
wrong? What evidence do we have in the Bible that we do have free
will? What evidence do we have that God does know the future?
The truth must be that, even with our free will, God knows future
events before they unfold. Why is there no contradiction in the idea
of God having foreknowledge of a choice that is freely made?
l One of Satan’s harshest attacks is on Daniel 2, which provides
such rational evidence for God’s existence. After all, what firmer
foundation can you have for faith than something as solid and
unchangeable as world history? Part of his attack is to use scholars
to argue that Daniel 2 was written about 165 b.c., long after many
of the events predicted in it already happened. Yet, the argument
is destroyed by the prophecy itself. How could Daniel have so accu-
rately predicted the break up of Rome into the nations of modern
Europe, which didn’t happen until more than five or six hundred
years later than 165 b c ? If an amazing prediction like that required
supernatural foreknowledge, why shouldn’t we then trust the book
for what it says about itself and when it was written, as opposed to
accepting a view that is refuted by the prophecy itself? The whole
point of the late dating of Daniel is to try to denude it of its prophetic
power. As we can see, this attempt fails, even miserably. Discuss.
Summary:
However chaotic world history can appear, above it all the
Lord is working out His purposes, and human history will end with
the glorious second coming of Jesus.
1
2
3
1
2
S
tor
i n s i d e
79
From Despair to Hope
by do w e L L ch o w
Neng Suan cried out in agony. His son—his only son—was dead.
Neng and his wife have five daughters, but, in their culture, girls count
for nothing. If someone asked Neng how many children he had, his
answer was, “I have a son.” A son meant stability, support in old age, and
hope for the future. But suddenly his only son, his pride and joy, was dead.
Now Neng had nothing, no hope, and no future.
Neng and his family live in a village in Southeast Asia. In his culture, if
a couple dies without a son, the relatives swoop in and claim everything
the couple owns—their land, their home, their livestock—everything.
Daughters have no rights; it’s as if they don’t exist. And now Neng and
his wife had no son. His life became meaningless.
Before his son died, Neng had been attending a Protestant church,
but when his son died, his hope and faith died with the boy. He stopped
attending church. His life became enshrouded in darkness. He began
drinking, and before long, he was smoking and chewing khaini, a tobacco-
lime product.
Neng lost interest in his work and spent his days drinking. His whole
family gave up on him, except for his wife, who supported the family by
cultivating a few crops in her hillside garden. She tried to encourage her
distraught husband, but nothing seemed to bring peace to his troubled
soul.
Then one night Neng turned on his radio looking for distraction. He
found a program that caught his interest. It was called the The Voice of
Hope. The speaker’s voice soothed him, and the message brought hope to
Neng’s heart. From that night on, Neng listened to the program.
Neng learned that the speaker, Pastor Khan Suan, would be holding
meetings near his home. Neng decided to attend the meetings. His wife
went with him, and together they experienced the love of God anew. Neng
and his wife surrendered their lives to Christ and asked to be baptized.
Neng claimed God’s promise in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me” (NKJV), and with Christ’s strength, he
gave up his self-destructive habits. People noticed the changes in Neng’s
life. “God understands my loss,” he says. “He gave His son to die for me.
Although I lost my precious son, I have found comfort in Christ.
Neng is glad that in his deepest sorrow, God sent him the message of
love through Adventist World Radio. Your mission offerings help support
this ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
do w e L L ch o w is president of Adventist World Radio.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
80
L e s s o n
10
*March 3–9
The Promise of Prayer
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
Col. 4:2, Rom. 12:12, Matt.
26:34–44, Heb. 11:6, James 4:2, John 14:15, 1 Thess. 4:3.
Memory Text:
“Evening and morning and at noon I will pray,
and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17, NKJV).
Key Thought:
In numerous places in the Bible, the Lord calls us to
pray because prayer is an essential component of our walk with
Him.
E
llen White gave us these words on the issue of prayer: “Our
heavenly Father waits to bestow upon us the fullness of His
blessing. It is our privilege to drink largely at the fountain of
boundless love. What a wonder it is that we pray so little! God is
ready and willing to hear the sincere prayer of the humblest of His
children, and yet there is much manifest reluctance on our part to
make known our wants to God. What can the angels of heaven think
of poor helpless human beings, who are subject to temptation, when
God’s heart of infinite love yearns toward them, ready to give them
more than they can ask or think, and yet they pray so little and have
so little faith? The angels love to bow before God; they love to be
near Him. They regard communion with God as their highest joy; and
yet the children of earth, who need so much the help that God only
can give, seem satisfied to walk without the light of His Spirit, the
companionship of His presence.”—Steps to Christ, p. 94.
That about sums it all up, doesn’t it?
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 10.
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Su n d a y
March 4
The Power of Prayer
One day, a young man received a letter from a former co-worker,
someone who had retired a number of years earlier. The two workers,
to put it mildly, hadn’t gotten along; the one who had left, had from
the start, treated the other one badly. Anyway, the remaining worker
opened the letter and started to read. Among the words were the fol-
lowing: “You know, I don’t understand how prayer works, never did, at
least intellectually. I do know, however, that we have been told to pray
and over the past few weeks, as I’ve been praying, I’ve been greatly
convicted about how I treated you all that time. I see that I was wrong,
un-Christlike, and a horrible witness for my faith. I know I should have
done this a long time ago, but I do sincerely apologize. I have to claim
Christ’s forgiveness for what I have done, no matter how unworthy I
am, and now I ask for your forgiveness as well.”
In many ways, this story exemplifies the power of prayer. It’s not
so much to get God to move mountains, although that can happen.
Instead, it can cause something even more miraculous: it can change
the human heart.
As the person wrote, prayer isn’t always easy to understand. Why
ask God for something if He knows about it already? Will God not
do something unless we ask for it first? Can our prayers really change
what the Creator God will do?
Whether we understand how prayer works or not, one thing is cer-
tain: without it, our walk with the Lord is destined to failure.
Read
the following texts. What main point do they all have in com-
mon? Matt. 26:41, Luke 18:1, 1 Tim. 2:8, 1 Thess. 5:17, 1 Pet. 4:7,
Col. 4:2, Rom. 12:12.
_______________________________________________________
No question, as Christians we are told to pray and to pray often.
That we might not understand how prayer works is, really, beside the
point. Most of us don’t fully understand how anything works, be it
secular or sacred. If we waited until we fully understood all the issues
regarding our faith, then it would hardly be faith, would it? The very
word faith itself implies that there are elements beyond our intellec-
tual grasp. One thing, though, that anyone who prays consistently and
fervently—and according to the will of God—can testify to is that
prayer can, and does, change our lives.
What is your understanding of prayer? How has it impacted
your life? Where would you be in your Christian walk without
prayer?
82
Mo n d a y
March 5
Jesus, the Praying Messiah
What
do the following texts teach us about Jesus and prayer? What
is the context of each verse?
Luke 3:21, 22____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Luke 9:28, 29____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Luke 6:12, 13____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Heb. 5:7________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Matt. 14:23______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Luke 22:31, 32___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Matt. 26:34–44___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Jesus, the spotless Son of God, the One who was without sin,
without fault, the One who lived in perfect harmony with the will of
the Father, obviously had a powerful prayer life. (The above verses
don’t even include Jesus’ prayer in John 17.) If Jesus needed to pray
in order to deal with the things He faced, how much more do we?
Christ’s example of prayer makes it abundantly clear how central
prayer needs to be in our walk with the Lord. It’s hard to imagine
anyone having any kind of relationship with God without that person
praying. If communication is crucial to maintaining relationships with
other people, how much more so in a relationship with God? Jesus
gives us an example. It’s up to us to make the choice to follow it.
How consistent is your prayer life? How distracted are you from
praying? Do you pray consistently or when you are in trouble?
How can you make prayer central in your walk with the Lord?
83
Tu e s d a y
March 6
The Prayer of Faith
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6). What important
principles does this text teach us in regard to what is required for
prayer and what it means to us?
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In a sense, prayer is a way of coming to God, of opening oneself
up to Him. We don’t pray so that God will know the things that we
need. After all, Jesus Himself said, in the context of prayer, that “your
Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matt.
6:8, NKJV). We pray because prayer is a way of exercising our faith
in God. It’s a means of making our faith stronger, more real, and
practical. Who hasn’t experienced how fervent, unwavering prayer,
offered with a sense of dependence and need, has increased one’s
faith and deepened one’s relationship with God?
Prayer is a way of helping to empty self of self. It’s a way to die
daily. It’s a way to reconnect with God on a very personal level. It’s
a way to remind yourself that you are not your own, that you have
been bought with a price, and that left to yourself you would crumble
and die in a world full of powers and forces that could, in an instant,
trample you into the dirt.
So
often we hear the phrase “seek the Lord in prayer.” What does that
mean to you? See Dan. 9:3, 4; Zech. 8:21.
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To a great degree, every prayer is an act of faith. Who can see their
prayers extend to heaven? Who can see God receive them? Often we pray
without seeing immediate results; yet, we go on faith that God hears and
will answer in the best way possible. Prayer is an act of faith in which we
reach out beyond what we see or feel or even fully understand.
How much of your prayer life is rote and static, as opposed to
deep and heartfelt? How can you move away from the former
toward the latter?
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We d n e s d a y
March 7
Because You Do Not Ask
One of the questions that those who pray often ask is, “Can my
prayers really move God to do something that, otherwise, He might
not do?” That’s a logical question. To answer it, all we can do is go
to the Word of God and see what it says.
Read
James 4:2; Luke 11:9, 10; James 5:16–18. What do these texts
say about our prayers and the actions of God?
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However much prayer changes us and impacts our relationship with
God and others, the Bible is very clear that our prayers influence what
God does. We ask and He responds, one way or another.
Read
Genesis 18:22–33. How do we see this principle at work here?
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Again, whatever the philosophical difficulties associated with
understanding this truth, God does respond to human prayers. He said
that He does, and so we have to take Him at His Word.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble them-
selves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked
ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and
will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14, NIV). What does this text
teach us about prayer?
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Notice, however, that God isn’t going to heal their land just because
they ask. They are called to pray, but prayer is only one aspect of a
general revival on their part.
Perhaps the most important example of this principle is here: “If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NIV). Here, we see a
powerful link between prayer (in this case, confession) and God’s action
in our lives. We confess our sins, and He forgives them, a process that
also results in His cleansing us from our unrighteousness. The clear idea
implied here is that if we don’t pray, don’t confess, we aren’t forgiven.
No question, in these cases, God acts in response to our prayers.
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Th u r s d a y
March 8
Complying With Conditions
Someone sits in a restaurant, consuming a large meal, filled with
fatty food that he or she washes down with a soft drink. He or she then
finishes off with a large bowl of chocolate ice cream covered in hot
fudge. That night, before going to bed (and having a little snack before
then, too), he or she kneels to pray. Part of his or her prayer is, “O Lord,
please help me lose weight.”
What’s wrong with this picture?
The fact is, we can expect God to answer our prayers, but there are
things we need to do in the process. It has been said that we need to
live out our prayers; that is, we need to do all that we can, in our power,
to see them answered. This isn’t humanism, nor is it showing a lack of
faith. On the contrary, it’s part of what living by faith is all about.
“If we regard iniquity in our hearts, if we cling to any known sin,
the Lord will not hear us; but the prayer of the penitent, contrite soul is
always accepted. When all known wrongs are righted, we may believe
that God will answer our petitions. Our own merit will never commend
us to the favor of God; it is the worthiness of Jesus that will save us, His
blood that will cleanse us; yet we have a work to do in complying with
the conditions of acceptance.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 95.
She’s not saying that we have to be perfect in order to have our
prayers answered. She’s clear, too, that our acceptance with God is not
based on us, or on our merit, but only on the merits of Christ for us. She
is saying that we have to be in an attitude of faith, humility, and surren-
der to God’s will in order for Him to be able to work in our lives.
How
do the following texts help us to understand what it means to
“comply with the conditions”? See Heb. 10:38, Deut. 4:29, Luke
9:23, John 14:15, 1 Thess. 4:3.
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Perhaps, of all the conditions necessary for us to have an effective
prayer life, the central one is our own sense of need, our own sense
of helplessness, our own sense that we are sinners in need of grace,
and that our only hope exists in the Lord who has done so much for
us. To be arrogant, self-assured, and full of oneself is a recipe for
spiritual disaster.
What are the things you’re praying fervently for? As you pray,
ask yourself, What could I be doing differently that could help
bring about the answer that I so desperately want?
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fr i d a y
March 9
Further Study:
“Prayer is the breath of the soul. It is the secret of
spiritual power. No other means of grace can be substituted, and the
health of the soul be preserved. Prayer brings the heart into immedi-
ate contact with the Well-spring of life, and strengthens the sinew
and muscle of the religious experience.”—Ellen G. White, Gospel
Workers, pp. 254, 255.
“When we do not receive the very things we asked for, at the
time we ask, we are still to believe that the Lord hears and that He
will answer our prayers. We are so erring and shortsighted that we
sometimes ask for things that would not be a blessing to us, and our
heavenly Father in love answers our prayers by giving us that which
will be for our highest good—that which we ourselves would desire
if with vision divinely enlightened we could see all things as they
really are. When our prayers seem not to be answered, we are to cling
to the promise; for the time of answering will surely come, and we
shall receive the blessing we need most. But to claim that prayer will
always be answered in the very way and for the particular thing that
we desire, is presumption. God is too wise to err, and too good to
withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly. Then do not
fear to trust Him, even though you do not see the immediate answer
to your prayers.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 96.
Discussion Questions:
l What do you say to someone who asks, “Why pray, if God
knows all things in advance”?
l Who, at times, doesn’t struggle with the question of answered
and unanswered prayer? For instance, someone prays that their
car not break down on a trip and, when the car doesn’t break
down, they attribute the happy circumstances to answered
prayers. This is fine. But what do you say to the person who also
prayed, in this case that their child wouldn’t die, and yet the
child dies? How do we understand these things? Or can we?
l What is the role of the Holy Spirit in our prayer life?
l Imagine in class someone new arrives and he or she asks,
“Can you teach me what it means to pray? How should I pray?
Why should I pray? And what should I expect when I do pray,
and what should I not expect?” How would you answer?
Summary:
No question, there are a lot of things about prayer that we
don’t grasp. But those who pray do know one thing for sure: prayer
will change your life, and for the better, as well.
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87
The Noisy Neighbor
by bo b b y wa G h
Raju heard the singing coming from the neighbor’s house and turned his
music up as loud as possible. Sometimes he could still hear the singing,
and he shouted abuses at the little group of Seventh-day Adventist believ-
ers who worshiped next door.
Other neighbors avoided confronting Raju about his actions. They left
the handling of the troublesome neighbor to the Seventh-day Adventists.
The believers visited Raju and offered to pray for him and his family. But
their kindnesses only irritated Raju more. He purposely chose the believ-
ers’ worship time to bathe his idols and pray to them.
Raju’s first child died shortly after birth, but the man refused to let the
believers pray with him. When his second child also died shortly after
birth, Raju worshiped his gods with renewed vigor. But then his third
child died, and Raju felt desperate. He ceased worshiping his idols and
stored them inside his house.
When Raju’s wife became pregnant again, Raju was filled with fear
that he might lose both his wife and the child she carried. Once more the
Seventh-day Adventists offered to pray with Raju and his wife about the
unborn child, but still Raju refused.
The child was born apparently healthy, but soon he developed jaundice,
just as his older siblings had. The doctors told Raju that only a full blood
transfusion would save the baby. Raju felt powerless and desperate.
The Seventh-day Adventists learned of the baby’s illness and visited
the family in the hospital. Raju was distraught over his tiny son’s fragile
condition. Desperate, he allowed his Seventh-day Adventist neighbors to
pray for his wife and son. The group gathered around the bed and ear-
nestly petitioned God on behalf of mother and child.
As the baby grew stronger, Raju and his wife rejoiced. They realized
that their son was alive because the God of the Seventh-day Adventists
had shown mercy on them. Raju and his wife began attending the church
next door to their house, and in time, they gave their hearts to the Lord.
They threw their idols into the river and asked to be baptized.
Now, instead of raising a ruckus with loud music during the believers’
worship service, Raju sings God’s praises loud and clear. He is sharing
his love for God with others and helping the little group grow. Our mis-
sion offerings help raise up congregations in areas such as Raju’s, where
few believers live. Thank you for helping to share God’s love through
your mission offerings.
bo b b y wa G h is treasurer of the South Maharashtra Region of Western India Union.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
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L e s s o n
11
*March 10–16
God as Artist
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
Isa. 64:5–8, Ps. 51:10,
1 Chron. 23:5, Heb. 8:1–5, Rom. 11:33–36, Acts 9:1–22.
Memory Text:
“One thing I have desired of the Lo r d , that will I
seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lo r d all the days of my
life, to behold the beauty of the Lo r d (Psalm 27:4, NKJV).
Key Thought:
God as artist?
S
o far, we’ve looked at various aspects of the Lord: the Trinity,
God’s holiness, and God as Redeemer. There is one picture of
God in Scripture, however, that is rarely given attention—God
as artist.
Many people claim they have no interest in art. Many Christians
know little about it. They may know what they like, but that is noth-
ing more than knowledge about themselves. Others acknowledge that
art exists, but they never consider its value or relevance. Christianity
has often been ambivalent about the arts. At times, the arts have been
denounced as irreligious and evil; other times, aesthetics have become
a secular “religion” with serious devotees. There are also plenty of
Christian writers, but they have seldom made attempts to relate the
concept of “beauty” to the central Christian doctrines.
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” wrote poet John Keats. While Keats
certainly overstated the case, God is indeed Truth, and the Truth is
beautiful. Creation itself testifies to the fact that God is an artist and a
lover of what’s beautiful.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 17.
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Su n d a y
March 11
God as Potter
“But now, O Lo r d , thou art our father; we are the clay, and
thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isa. 64:8).
When
is the first time the Bible reveals God displaying His skills
working with “clay”? Gen. 1:26, 27, 31; 2:7.
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Scripture opens with God creating the first humans out of the “dust
of the ground.” In fact, the Hebrew word for “man,” adam, is closely
tied to the Hebrew word for “ground,” which is adamah—a linguistic
link that enforces the amazing truth about God’s skill as a “potter.” He
truly formed us out of the clay of the ground. It’s hard to imagine how a
human being, with our blood and bones and skin and nerves and all of the
amazing parts of our body, could have been formed from the ground. Our
existence is a miracle that far surpasses human understanding.
In a sense, though the “potter” image works, in that the Lord used
clay to form us, in other ways (as is with most imagery seeking to
explain God’s work and power) it hardly does justice to His creativ-
ity and artistry. After all, what potter can take clay and turn it into a
living, breathing thing?
Read
Jeremiah 18:3–10, Isaiah 64:5–8, Psalm 51:10. How is the
imagery of God as potter used in some of these texts?
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Among the concepts revealed in these verses is the idea of just how
helpless we are before the power of God. We are, in a sense, like clay
in the hands of a potter; the potter, not the clay, is in charge.
At the same time, God is working to re-create in us His image.
However much God cares about His physical creation, how much
more would He care about the beauty of what He can do in us? We are
to surrender, to die to self, and to cooperate with the Lord, who seeks
to re-create and restore to us, as much as possible, the original spiri-
tual and moral beauty that we once had. Sure, outside appearances can
be beautiful, but inner beauty is what really matters.
Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky created a fictional character
who had, Dostoevsky said, a “beautiful soul.” What is your idea
of a “beautiful soul,” and what things in you do, and do not,
correspond to that ideal?
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Mo n d a y
March 12
God as Architect
After
God dramatically delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, He
brought them to Mount Sinai. There, He joined them to Himself
in a sacred covenant. Among all the varied instructions He gave
them there, how was beauty included? Exod. 25:1–9.
The first half of the book of Exodus details the miraculous deliver-
ance of Israel from Egypt. The second half of the book deals with issues
that include beauty. The divine instructions of Exodus 25:1–9 are fol-
lowed by Exodus 25:10–31:11, with God’s “blueprints” for the portable
tent sanctuary, its furnishings, and the priestly vestments. From Exodus
35:1 to the end of the book (Exod. 40:38) are found God’s detailed
descriptions, along with the record of the precise accomplishment of
them. This record includes extensive details of artistry.
This collection of details is tedious reading to many modern
Christians. But it pleased God not only to present these many instruc-
tions to the newly freed slaves but also to include them in Scripture.
There are almost fifty chapters in the first five books of the Bible
that record God’s precise directives regarding a beautiful sanctuary.
He provides not only the architectural blueprints but also the exact
directions for the furnishings. It is significant that on Mount Sinai
God gave not only the Decalogue, His instructions for obedience
within the covenant, but also specific directions of how to fashion a
lavish structure involving almost every type of artistic skill.
God was architect of it all, even inspiring the artisans to craft the
minute details of decoration. Nothing was left to human devising.
There are more chapters regarding the plans for, and consequent
building of, this sanctuary and its furnishings than for any other sub-
ject in the first five books of Moses.
Upon
what was the earthly sanctuary modeled, and what does that
tell us about God’s love of beauty? Exod. 25:9, Heb. 8:1–5.
If the earthly sanctuary was only a “shadow” of the heavenly, we
can hardly begin to imagine the kind of beauty that must exist in the
real sanctuary, the one made by God Himself.
Why do you think it was important for the sanctuary to be so
beautiful? Perhaps to give the people a sense of awe before the
power and grandeur of God? Maybe to help them sense their
own need before such grandeur? How can understanding the
glory of the sanctuary better help us to grasp the character of
God in contrast to our own earthliness and sinfulness?
91
Tu e s d a y
March 13
God as Musician
‘Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are
to praise the Lo r d with the musical instruments I have provided
for that purpose’ (1 Chron. 23:5, NIV).
Try to envision the scene above: four thousand people playing
musical instruments in praise of the Lord! That must have been an
amazing worship service.
God’s artistic expression is not restricted to the representational
arts. In Scripture we find that, along with sacred architecture, Israel’s
liturgy was inspired by the Lord. God is a lover of beautiful music,
as well.
How
does King David describe his composition of the psalms Israel
used in worship? 2 Sam. 23:1, 2.
David was clear that he was inspired by the Lord to write the songs
that he did. Although this doesn’t mean that the Lord wrote the words
and music for him, it does mean that the Lord cared about the kind of
music that was played. Otherwise, why bother to inspire it?
Read
2 Chonicles 29:25. What does this verse tell us about the role of the
Lord in the music that was played in Israel’s worship services?
Throughout the Old Testament, when temple worship is recounted,
music is evident and impressive. Picture, for instance, the worship
atmosphere described in 1 Chronicles 23:5. Four thousand instruments!
Whatever the music must have sounded like, it certainly wasn’t boring
or dry!
It might be argued that aesthetic dimensions could be expected
within sacred worship and that throughout history all nations have
exhibited such in worship of their gods. However, Israel alone insists
that God Himself designed every aspect of His worship, including
architecture, furniture, priestly attire, and liturgy. There can be no
doubt that artistic design is sanctioned in the Word of God. Anyone
who rejects the aesthetic dimension, or who denies that being an artist
can be a relevant vocation for a Christian, does so against the record
of Scripture.
Although we don’t have the music that accompanied Israelite
worship, it must have been beautiful, and it certainly must
have lifted their souls toward the Lord. How does music in our
church function today? How can we be sure that it does the
same thing, that is, lift our souls toward the Lord, as opposed
to pushing us in another direction?
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We d n e s d a y
March 14
God as Author
Bible scholars have often been impressed by the incredible literary
quality of the Bible. Many secular colleges also teach courses on the Bible
simply for its literary beauty, not because they view it as God’s Word.
As Christians, we have the blessing not only of enjoying the literary
beauty of the Scriptures but of learning the truths about God as revealed
in the Bible. No doubt, too, the artful construction of the narratives
and the poetry, all influenced by the Spirit of the Lord (yet written out
through the words of God’s prophets), goes a long way in helping us to
understand the truth contained therein.
The apostle Paul, for instance, with his complex theological discourse,
regularly punctuates his theology with powerful literary devices. For
example, in the first eleven chapters of the book of Romans, Paul gives
a comprehensive account of the gospel. Look through these chapters
and note the various topics Paul weaves together.
Read
Romans 11:33–36. Compare these texts with Romans 11:1–32.
Like a hiker who has reached the summit of a high mountain, the
apostle—who has taken in the vast panorama of salvation history—
now bursts into praise. Before Paul goes on to outline the practical
implications of the gospel, he worships.
Paul exhibits this subtle literary rhythm several times in his epistles
and letters: intricate theological reasoning interlaced with praise to
God before concluding with practical counsel.
The book of Revelation also is filled with an imposing mosaic of lit-
erary devices through which God portrays salvation history. Much of
the book was taken from the Old Testament. The reader is presented
with an exceedingly complex tapestry of words, phrases, and themes
borrowed from other biblical writers but now woven together into an
entirely new fabric. This final book in the Bible is in a style vastly
different from what Paul and the Gospel writers used. Instead, we
are almost overwhelmed with a profound aesthetic display carefully
structured around seven scenes of the heavenly sanctuary, each one
opening with deeper access into the heavenly court.
The book of Revelation is an extensive aesthetic display. God could
have furnished John with a standard historical document to present the
course of the salvation story. Instead, what we find are stunning picto-
rial vistas portraying the working out of the great controversy between
Christ and Satan, and expanding on the imposing apocalyptic display
given earlier to Daniel and Ezekiel.
Imagine reading the Bible only as literature. Talk about missing
the point! What lessons can we learn about how easily we can
have truth right before our eyes and yet miss it completely?
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Th u r s d a y
March 15
God as a Sculptor
God is also a sculptor, but not one limited to granite or marble.
Instead, He sculpts our characters. He can take a sinful human being
and mold and chisel and hammer away until that person reflects
something of heaven’s glory. God has given extensive evidence of
such profound skills. From cover to cover in Scripture, we find God
taking persons we might disregard as unattractive and unworthy and
fashioning them into something beautiful.
Who
are some characters in the Bible who needed a bit of spiritual
sculpting, as it were? What needed changes were made in their
lives? For instance, Jacob (Gen. 32:22–30); David (Psalm 51);
Peter (Luke 22:31, 32); Paul (Acts 9:1–22). Whom else can you
think of, and what kind of changes came about in them?
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Another good example is Mary Magdalene. “Mary had been . . . a
great sinner, but Christ knew the circumstances that had shaped her
life. . . . It was He who had lifted her from despair and ruin. Seven
times she had heard His rebuke of the demons that controlled her
heart and mind. She had heard His strong cries to the Father in her
behalf. She knew how offensive is sin to His unsullied purity, and in
His strength she had overcome. . . . [This woman] who had fallen, and
whose mind had been a habitation of demons, was brought very near
to the Saviour in fellowship and ministry. . . . Mary stood beside the
Cross. . . . Mary was first at the tomb after His resurrection. It was
Mary who first proclaimed a risen Saviour.”—Ellen G. White, The
Desire of Ages, p. 568.
Salvation history is full of divine creativity, restoring in fallen men
and women the lost “image of God.” The gospel is no cosmetic face-
lift but a matter of life-changing orientation running deep and swift in
its power to cleanse, shape, and beautify. The gospel of Jesus Christ
creatively builds with integrity and wholeness. Genuine newness
is the result of an inward dynamic at work, a divine creativity that
restores beauty to a fallen, sinful life.
Sculpting involves chiseling, filing, maybe even the breaking off
of parts. What areas in your life need to be sculpted a bit more?
How much resistance do you put up during a process that isn’t
always fun?
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fr i d a y
March 16
Further Study:
“Let the converting power of God be experienced
in the heart of the individual members, and then we shall see the deep
moving of the Spirit of God. Mere forgiveness of sin is not the sole
result of the death of Jesus. He made the infinite sacrifice not only
that sin might be removed, but that human nature might be restored,
rebeautified, reconstructed from its ruins, and made fit for the pres-
ence of God.”—Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, p. 11,
emphasis added.
“How earnestly and perseveringly the artist labors to transfer to
canvas a perfect likeness of his model; and how diligently the sculptor
hews and chisels out the stone into a counterpart of the copy he is fol-
lowing. So the parents should labor to shape, polish, and refine their
children after the pattern given them in Christ Jesus. As the patient
artist studies, and works, and forms plans to make the results of his
labors more perfect, so should the parent consider time well spent that
is occupied in training the children for useful lives and fitting them
for the immortal kingdom. The artist’s work is small and unimportant
compared with that of the parent. The one deals with lifeless material,
from which he fashions forms of beauty; but the other deals with a
human being whose life can be shaped for good or ill, to bless human-
ity or to curse it; to go out in darkness, or to live forever in a future
sinless world.”—Ellen G. White, Child Guidance, pp. 476, 477.
Discussion Questions:
l What opportunity have you had to develop and use any artistic
skills? As you created something of beauty, how have you been
mindful that this act of creation is one way in which you are reflect-
ing the “image of God”? That is, by being creative, how are you in
your own way reflecting the creative power of the Lord.
l Look around at the created world, at nature, even after it
has been so long defiled by sin. In what ways does it powerfully
testify not only to the creative power of God but to His artistic
mastery and love of beauty? What things in nature do you find
truly beautiful and why?
l As we said in the introduction, Christians have always had some
ambivalence about the arts. Why would that be? What are some of
the pitfalls in art? At the same time, how can we use our own artistic
gifts in a way that glorifies God and advances His kingdom?
Summary:
God’s skills as an artist have been underrated. His created
world is often appreciated, but the expression of His artistic skills
extends His great abilities much further. God designs that Christians
especially should be a source of “beauty” in a dark and dying planet.
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One Year for God
One doesn’t think of Denmark as a mission field, but with just 2,500
Seventh-day Adventists in the country, there’s a lot of work to be done
in this post-modern secular society. To help finish the work, youth are
volunteering to spend a year serving in various ministries in a program
called One Year for God, sponsored by the Danish Union and Adventist
Volunteer Services.
Among these youth are Bjarne Rasmussen and Kim Larsen, two young
men in their twenties. Bjarne, a pastor’s son, wanted to get serious about
his faith. He took a short-term study course in lay evangelism and hoped to
become a Bible worker in the Danish Union. When finances didn’t allow
the union to hire him full-time, he volunteered to serve. “Who am I to call
myself a Christian and not introduce others to Jesus?” Bjarne asks.
A learning disability made advanced studies tedious for Kim, so he took
a break from his studies. God led him to the One Year for God program.
“It’s a good fit,” he says.
The two young men work together to find people who are searching for
something in their lives. Danish law forbids them from going door-to-door
to sell books, so Kim and Bjarne give out flyers offering a free Bible along
with Bible studies. Then they follow up with interested people. After four
months they were studying with seven people. In Denmark, that’s a good
result.
Danes love to read, so the men sometimes give out free books to people
who pass by on a street corner. And they held an open church worship
service to celebrate the 125th anniversary of one of the oldest Seventh-day
Adventist churches in Denmark. People came.
“It’s difficult to find people in Denmark who are interested in God,”
Kim says. “People live comfortable lives with plenty of material things.
But we’ve found people hungry to know God.”
One man reported reading the Bible to give him peace at work. Even
though he’s not yet a practicing Christian, he’s discovering God’s Word
and His love. Another woman who is studying the Bible lessons grew up
in the state church. She says that God had never been part of her life until
she faced difficult times. Now she is turning to Christ for answers.
“Working One Year for God is strengthening my personal walk with
God. I’m so grateful to be a part of His plan,” Kim says.
Materials for the One Year for God program are funded in part through
the mission and world budget offerings. Thank you for serving God
through mission giving.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
96
L e s s o n
12
*March 17–23
Love Stories
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
Gen. 2:21–25, Exod. 20:5,
Isa. 43:4, 62:5, Song of Songs, John 2:1–11.
Memory Text:
“The Lo r d has appeared of old to me, saying:
‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with
lovingkindness I have drawn you’ (Jeremiah 31:3, NKJV).
Key Thought:
How are we to understand the loving side of God?
L
ove is, perhaps, the most readily recalled attribute of God. And,
indeed, we cannot overestimate God’s love, nor exhaust the
depth of it. But perhaps there is one aspect of His deep love
that is not duly regarded; that is, God as a romantic.
To get a proper perspective on God’s romantic nature, we need to
remind ourselves, first of all, of the time frame exhibited in the Bible.
This book covers thousands of years of human history. And like all
history books, the Bible as a whole contains records of kings and
queens, wars and battle plans, and political intrigue.
No history book, though, records everything. The same is true of
Scripture. One does not find an exhaustive historical record in the
broad scope of time that the Bible covers. A lot of things are skipped
over. Most interestingly, though, is that God includes tender romances
within the historical record He inspired the prophets to write. The
question is, Why would the Lord include these kinds of love stories,
stories of romance, in what is so much a history book? Does that tell
us something about His own nature and how importantly He views
romance? This week we’ll look at why these accounts are included
and what we can learn from them.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 24.
97
Su n d a y
March 18
The First Romance
“And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of
my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out
of Man” (Gen. 2:23).
We need to begin with the initial chapters of Genesis for the first
romance in Scripture, that of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve are special
creations of God. Both male and female reflect His image (Gen. 1:26,
27). Both Adam and Eve receive their life as a result of God’s incredible
creative power. The complexity of our physical bodies remains one of the
most powerful testimonies to the wisdom and might of our Creator.
Read
the biblical account of the creation of Eve (Gen. 2:21–25). How
would you describe the kind of relationship between them as
depicted in this account?
_______________________________________________________
Perhaps the most obvious point from this account is just how inti-
mately and closely tied together these two are. God creates the woman
out of the body of the man; they are, literally, of the same flesh and
blood.
Adam then breaks out into what has been called the Bible’s first
“love song” or “love poem,” in which he openly acknowledges just
how closely tied each is to the other. In Hebrew, the word for “man”
that he uses in verse 23 is ish; the word he uses for “woman” is ishah,
again showing just how closely tied they are.
In verse 24, the Bible says that a man will leave his parents and
cleave unto his wife, and they shall be “one flesh,” another power-
ful indicator of the intimacy meant for them. (Some have wondered,
What parents is the Bible talking about here, because there were none
then? The point is, Moses wrote this account many centuries after it
happened, and he used the story of their creation to explain in more
detail what marriage meant.)
Finally, their nakedness also revealed the intense closeness and
intimacy between this first couple.
Whatever else their relationship originally entailed, romantic love
was certainly a major part of it. God is not against romance. On the
contrary, He created us as beings capable of experiencing it. In fact,
that seems to be one of the basic elements He created in us.
Romantic love is such a wonderful, God-given gift to humanity.
If you are in a proper romantic relationship, what things can
you do to protect it from all that can go wrong?
98
Mo n d a y
March 19
Biblical Romances
Although the Bible covers a lot of history, it has made time to
depict some romances. There was a strong, affectionate bond between
Abraham and Sarah. He doesn’t desert her during her long years of
barrenness. In fact, it is only at Sarah’s urging that Abraham takes
Hagar as a surrogate wife. The ties of love between Abraham and
Sarah are strong. (See Genesis 16.)
It takes a lengthy chapter in Genesis to record Abraham’s servant’s
long trip to find Isaac a wife. Upon his return with Rebecca, the
inspired account includes another love story. (See Genesis 24.)
Another romance given a lot of time in the Bible is the one between
Jacob and Rachel. In quick strokes, the picture is painted of Jacob’s
impulsive and warm response to Rachel. Apart from the Song of
Songs, there isn’t another example in Scripture of a man and a woman
kissing, certainly not before marriage. And if we recall that God is the
ultimate author of Scripture, and through His inspiration the book of
Genesis was written, we are reminded that God is a romantic, because
He includes this love story and this kiss in the Bible. (See Genesis
29.) (If you were writing a history book spanning thousands of years,
covering the creation of humankind and its Fall, why would you
include this romantic detail?) In the historical period enclosed within
the book of Genesis, there must be many time gaps. Yet, God inspired
the inclusion of these warm love stories.
Go
back over the stories of these romances. Whatever the love that
existed, these accounts are in many ways similar to romance and
love stories all over the world; that is, these people faced many
challenges and suffered from the mistakes of one or both parties.
What were some of the things done wrong that brought so much
pain and suffering to these relationships? Most important, how
can we learn from their mistakes?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Unfortunately, many have made similar mistakes, or even
worse. The good news is that God not only forgives, He heals.
Whatever romantic mistakes you have made, how can you learn
to seek the forgiveness and healing that come from the Cross?
99
Tu e s d a y
March 20
God’s Love
Genesis shows, right from the start, that romance was to be a basic
part of the human experience. One man with one woman, period. That
was God’s ideal, the biblical prototype that models what romantic
love was to be about.
It’s fascinating, too, how often the Bible uses imagery of love, of
marriage, to depict the kind of love relationship God seeks with His
people. Nothing is to be more intimate than a husband and a wife—
except, perhaps, a person’s individual relationship with God.
Read
Exodus 20:5. What word in there reveals God’s feelings toward
His people? How are we to understand that word in the context
of God?
_______________________________________________________
Many times God expresses His jealousy over His people. (See also
Exod. 34:14, Deut. 4:24, Joel 2:18.) Jealousy is a feeling lovers get
when they think that their beloved is not faithful to them. God is not a
distant, nonfeeling, impersonal benign “force.” He is a personal Being
with profound affection for the human family. However hard it is for
us to grasp, God does love us and, like any lover, He is pained by our
unfaithfulness.
Look
up the following texts. What are they saying? How do they help
us to understand God’s feelings toward us? Isa. 43:4, 62:5, Ezek.
16:1–15, Jer. 31:3, Rev. 21:9.
_______________________________________________________
The Bible openly teaches that God deeply loves individual human
beings. This is not an easy concept to grasp, only because the concept
of God, the Creator of the universe, isn’t an easy concept to grasp.
After all, we can barely understand the universe as a whole; how
much less, then, the One who created it? At the same time, though,
God has not only declared His love for us, He has shown it to us in
many powerful ways. The greatest, of course, is the Cross and what
happened there. What more proof do we need of God’s love for us
than what we have been given at Calvary?
Think what it would mean were God to hate us or to be indiffer-
ent to us or to merely like us. But the Bible says that God loves
us. What does that mean to you, personally, and how does this
amazing idea (that God loves us) influence how you live?
100
We d n e s d a y
March 21
A Book of Romance
Libraries could be filled with books that deal with the difficult ques-
tion of human suffering, difficult especially for those who believe in a
loving and all-powerful God (for the atheist, suffering is merely part
of what it means to live in a godless and meaningless universe and
thus doesn’t present the difficult philosophical questions it does for
Christians). However, without an understanding of the great contro-
versy between Christ and Satan, most of those books don’t make much
headway (even with an understanding of the cosmic drama, the ques-
tion of suffering is, indeed, difficult enough).
And although the question of human suffering touches all aspects of
life, we mustn’t forget life’s pleasures either. Why does food taste so
good? Why so many taste buds perfectly matched to sense the many
appealing flavors in food? Why are there so many shades of color? Why
is the human eye able to connect with, and revel in, all the vivid colors?
Why the joy of married sexuality? Reproduction certainly doesn’t require
the kind of pleasure that sexual activity offers. Some forms of life simply
split in half to reproduce. Imagine if that were what we went through in
order to reproduce. Even now, humans occasionally use methods of arti-
ficial insemination that don’t involve pleasure. Why do we have the exact
nerve endings needed to enjoy sensory pleasure, even sexual pleasure?
The answer to all these questions is the same: it’s because God has
made us that way. God created humans as physical beings who are
intended to enjoy physical pleasures.
No book of the Bible deals with this topic better than the Song of
Songs. Why is that book in the Bible? It is a book of sheer romantic plea-
sure. All the sexual pleasures included in the book have no connection
to child-bearing. The book explicitly reminds us of the specific pleasures
God designed and intended for husbands and wives. The effervescent
springs of romantic love can be traced to their source in God.
Skim
through the Song of Solomon. What does the book say to you
about how God views the pleasures of the flesh in the right context?
_______________________________________________________
Of course, compared to many of the crude and licentious practices
of our surrounding culture, Christian ideas about sex, marriage, and
physical pleasures, in general, can seem outdated, prudish, and restric-
tive. But these principles come from the One who created our physical
pleasures, the One who knows how they can best be enjoyed. Who
alone but God can even begin to assess the pain and suffering caused
by the abuse of these wonderful gifts? Who hasn’t been impacted in
one way or another by their abuse?
101
Th u r s d a y
March 22
Jesus and Romance
Read
John 2:1–11. What does this tell us about Jesus’ attitude
toward marriage and romantic love? What does it mean that He
gave His blessing to such boisterous and long, drawn-out affairs
as Jewish weddings were in that day and age?
_______________________________________________________
Jesus had just returned from the wilderness of temptation, where He
Himself had drunk the cup of woe. But from there He came forth to
give the human family the cup of blessing and to consecrate the warm
relationships of human life. Jesus, who officiated at the first wedding
in the Garden of Eden, now performs His first miracle. Where? At a
wedding meal.
A Jewish wedding in biblical times was an impressive occasion. A
marriage in the small village of Cana in Galilee might have been the
event of the year. The partying went on for days. Rabbis and students
would stop studying. Everyone brought presents and, in return, the
hosting family was expected to keep guests well supplied with food,
drink, and merrymaking.
The running out of drink was, then, more than a minor disappointment.
It was a catastrophe, and the mother of Jesus comes to describe the emer-
gency to Him. She suggests nothing, nor is she passive. She speaks to the
servants of the household and urges, “Whatever He tells you, do it.”
Jesus then tells the servants to fill six water pots. Archaeologists say
that at that time a storage jar could hold 15–25 gallons. At a minimum
then, we are talking about at least ninety gallons. Some scholars sug-
gest at least one hundred twenty gallons.
The next thing we hear is the steward’s exuberant exclamation to the
bridegroom, congratulating him: Every man at the beginning sets out
the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.
You have kept the good wine until now!’ (John 2:10, NKJV).
If there are four quarts to a gallon and each quart yields six glasses,
the size generally used at wedding receptions, that amount is a mini-
mum total of 2,160 glasses. This means, then, 2,160 servings of the fin-
est drink for one little wedding party in a backwater village of Galilee.
Jesus, at a wedding, pours out the best that anyone had ever tasted.
In this miracle we can see God’s creative power, the same power
that created our world. And, in Jesus’ earthly ministry this creative
power is first expressed in the context of a wedding.
Romantic love and marriage are, indeed, wonderful gifts from God.
We must remember, too, that Jesus was never married, and thus He
leaves an example that shows that not everyone has to get married.
Single people can live full and productive and joyful lives as well as
married people can.
102
fr i d a y
March 23
Further Study:
In both the Old and the New Testament, marriage
is utilized to represent the tender and sacred union that exists between
Christ and His people. To the mind of Jesus, the gladness of wedding
festivities pointed forward to the rejoicing of that day when He shall
bring home His bride to the Father’s house, and the redeemed with
the Redeemer shall sit down to the marriage supper of the Lamb. He
says, “As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God
rejoice over you” (Isa. 62:5, NKJV). “You shall no longer be termed
Forsaken” (vs. 4, NKJV). “But you will be called, ‘My Delight’ . . .
for the Lord delights in you.’ . . . God will rejoice over you” (vss. 4,
5, NASB). “He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you
with singing” (Zeph. 3:17, NKJV).
Scripture concludes with this same glorious theme. When the vision
of heavenly things was granted to John the apostle, he wrote, “I heard,
as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters
and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the
Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give
Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has
made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine
linen, clean and bright. . . . ‘Blessed are those who are called to the
marriage supper of the Lamb! . . . These are the true sayings of God’
(Rev. 19:6–9, NKJV).
Discussion Questions:
l Which practices in your society and culture could easily lead
to the abuse of the physical pleasures that God has given us?
How can you help educate others, especially young people, about
the dangers of abusing these gifts? How can you show them
that by following the principles and laws that God has given us,
people will be in a much better situation to enjoy life than they
would be if they followed the customs and practices of society
that go contrary to the principles in God’s Word?
l In the civil laws God gave Israel, there is another reminder of
God’s romantic nature. What kind of honeymoon does God sug-
gest for a newly married couple? Deut. 24:5. What do we make
of that time frame given them?
Summary:
For many moderns, God has dwindled into a noble
“example.” Or He has been diluted into a concept useful for organiz-
ing world peace. He’s not, however, seen as a Personality whom we
can feel any love for. But Scripture insists that God is a passionate
lover. Reflect on the difference that this concept makes for the various
doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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tor
i n s i d e
103
Breakthrough at Bebe Village
by wi L s o n ku k i
In the Solomon Islands and many other island nations of the South
Pacific, individual villages and even entire regions are under the domain
of a single church. It’s often difficult to gain access to these villages, for
the people’s culture and identity are wrapped up in their church affilia-
tion.
As a Global Mission Pioneer, I wanted to enter one of the villages
dominated by another Protestant denomination. I asked permission to
take some Seventh-day Adventist young people to the village to do com-
munity service work. The village leaders agreed to let the young people
help repair the church roof, but they wouldn’t allow us to hold public
meetings. We agreed.
The village provided a house for us while we worked, and as the young
people worked with the villagers, they became friends.
Every morning and evening, we gathered outside our house to sing
and pray. Some of the villagers joined us, and this strengthened bonds
of friendship.
We had planned to spend Sabbath at a small Seventh-day Adventist
church in a nearby village, but the religious teacher of our village invited
us to worship in the church we were repairing. We gladly accepted, but
we were surprised to find this man had invited the villagers to join us
for worship. The majority of the village came to our worship that day.
We told Bible stories using picture rolls and sang songs of praise. The
people loved it!
After worship, a man named George told us that he had been accused
of sorcery and had been beaten to drive the spirits from him. He was
knocked unconscious, and no one helped him. With tears in his eyes,
George explained that he felt he had been rejected by his own village.
We prayed with George and gave him a Bible that he had requested.
We arranged to return to the village and study the Bible with him. When
George learned that I planned to hold evangelistic meetings in the next
village, George gladly agreed to come.
We invited others from the village to join us for Bible studies, and
several have asked for Bibles. We promised to give them Bibles if they’d
come to our meetings, and many did. They’re thrilled that other Christians
would come and help them repair their roof and worship with them. A little
kindness goes a long way toward building bridges—and church roofs.
wi L s o n ku k i is a Global Mission Pioneer working on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
104
L e s s o n
13
*March 24–30
The Promise of His
Return
sa b b a t h af t e r n o o n
Read for This Week’s Study:
2 Pet. 3:1–10, 13; John
14:2, 3; Dan. 2:44; Heb. 9:28; 11; Rev. 6:9–11; Luke 12:42–48.
Memory Text:
“ ‘And behold, I am coming quickly, and My
reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work’
(Revelation 22:12, NKJV).
Key Thought:
When is Jesus coming back? It doesn’t matter.
What matters is that He does.
A
t the end of the 1990s, many were wondering whether the
world would last until the new millennium. Then the year
2000 came and went. Some argued that the time calculation
was wrong and that 2001 was the first year of the new millennium.
But, alas, we’re still here.
Either way, Seventh-day Adventists, unlike many other Christian
traditions, believe that the second coming of Christ draws nearer. In
news reports, even secular reporters sometimes reflect on how the
world seems edging closer to some great crisis, whether political,
ecological, economic, military, or any combination thereof. One
doesn’t need to be a biblical apocalyptist in order to see a world that
seems to teeter on the brink of catastrophe.
None of this should surprise us; after all, just about every Bible
prophecy depicting end times paints a bleak forecast for the world
prior to the Second Coming.
When is Jesus coming back? We don’t know. What we do know
is that He is, and that’s what matters.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 31.
105
Su n d a y
March 25
The Beginning and the End
The description of our pitiful human condition is honestly and
correctly painted in Scripture. Bible writers did not always despair,
however, because they knew the final outcome. The last chapters in
the books of Isaiah and Revelation assure us that the destruction of sin
is coming and that God’s kingdom will be restored. God revealed to
His prophets the “last things” that will lead to the end of our world’s
dark history. These prophets gave full weight to the gravity of the
situation, but they lived with hope because the remedy had been
revealed to them.
As we saw earlier, if you believe the world began by chance, you
most likely believe it will end that way, as well. This view doesn’t
really leave much hope for those in between such a beginning and
such an end, does it?
In contrast, the Bible consistently refers to and describes a lit-
eral historical understanding of Genesis 1 and 2. Nothing was left
to chance in the Creation of the world. Hence, it’s no wonder that
the Word of God also insists on a literal end of this world, as well.
Nothing will be left to chance here either.
Read
2 Peter 3:1–10. How does Peter link early events in human
history with final ones? What message of hope can we take from
this passage?
_______________________________________________________
The primal creation and the final re-creation are vitally linked, each
enhancing the significance of the other. When studying the doctrine of the
last things (eschatology), we deal with God’s final, definitive acts toward
His creation, which lead right into the restoration of His kingdom.
Jesus clearly links the beginning and the end of things with
Himself. Three times in Revelation (Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13) Jesus
refers to Himself as the Alpha and the Omega (alpha is the first letter
of the Greek alphabet, omega the last). Whatever else He means by
saying that, at a minimum it shows us Jesus’ power and omnipres-
ence; it tells us that Jesus was there at the beginning of all things, and
He will be there at the end. We can trust in Him no matter where we
are in between. It’s a way of telling us that, however chaotic things
might seem, He is always there for us.
Some Christians have moved away from belief in a literal,
physical return of Jesus and a supernatural restoration of
God’s kingdom on earth. Instead, they think we need to build
the kingdom ourselves. Dwell on past attempts to do something
similar. Why should we think future ones will fare any better?
106
Mo n d a y
March 26
Promise and Expectation
Because “last things” center around the establishment of God’s
kingdom, attention to “last things” has always been a paramount
Seventh-day Adventist concern. So much so that we have drawn
attention to the end times in our name: Seventh-day Adventist. The name
itself points to our belief in the second advent of Jesus.
How
does Peter express this hope? 2 Pet. 3:13. Why is this hope so
central to all we believe? Without it, why do we have no real hope
at all?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Our own human expectations and hopes often are disappointing.
Many times they fail us because we cannot control future events.
Our most ardent hopes are often not fulfilled. We cannot control the
future, no matter how hard we might try. Human beings are faced
with possibilities and probabilities. Every plan of ours is tentative.
The unfolding of history is complicated, incalculable, and subject to
too many varied factors to allow us confidence in what we may decide
about it. And this uncertainty causes us anxiety.
But the biblical writers assure us that we need not despair; the Lord
is in control, and we have the promise of His return and the promise
of what He’ll do at that return.
Read
the following verses. What hope and assurance is found in
them? What different emphasis is found in each one of these
promises, as well?
John 14:2, 3_____________________________________________
Dan. 2:44_______________________________________________
Acts 3:20, 21____________________________________________
In all of these texts, and so many others, we have been given the
promise not only of Christ’s return but that a radically different new
world and existence await us when He does. Try to imagine what it
will be like. We are so used to sin, sickness, death, fear, violence,
hatred, poverty, crime, war, and suffering that we can’t easily imagine
a world without them. And yet, that’s exactly the world we’re hoping
for, the world we have been promised.
107
Tu e s d a y
March 27
Our Great Assurance
As Christians, as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we live with the
hope of Christ’s literal return to this earth. Some Christian groups have
abandoned hope in this teaching or have pushed it off to the side, or
they have watered it down and so spiritualized it away that the Second
Coming becomes essentially just a personal thing. They may say, The
Second Coming is realized in our hearts when we learn to fulfill our
role in our community, or When we learn to love others as we should,
then the second coming of Christ is actualized in our life. Though, of
course, we should love others and be fruitful members of our commu-
nity, none of these are the same as the second coming of Jesus.
From our perspective, especially with our understanding of the state
of the dead, it’s hard to imagine what our faith would mean without
the physical, literal return of Christ, at which time He will raise the
dead in Him. It’s so central to what we believe (again, our name itself
reflects just how central) that, without it, our whole system would
crumble. And that’s because all that we believe in and hope for cli-
maxes in the literal return of Christ “in the clouds of heaven” (Matt.
24:30); remove that and our teachings take us to a dead end.
Of
all the assurances we have of the Second Coming, which is the great-
est? What one event, more than any other, guarantees His return,
and why? Heb. 9:28, 1 Cor. 15:12–27.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Of course, the great hope of the Second Coming rests upon what
Christ accomplished for us at the First Coming. After all, what good
is the First Coming without the Second? In a sense, one could say
that the First Coming, and all that Jesus accomplished for us there, is
incomplete without the Second. At times the Bible uses the metaphor
of ransom to refer to the Cross. Jesus Himself said that ‘the Son of
Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a
ransom for many’ (Matt. 20:28, NKJV). At the cross, Jesus, by His
death, paid the ransom for our souls, a ransom that was full, complete,
and once and for all. At the same time, what good is paying a ransom
if you don’t come and get what was ransomed? The paying of the ran-
som isn’t the end of the story. Just as a human parent would come to
get the child he or she ransomed back, so, too, Jesus will come back to
get what He paid such a great price for. Hence, Christ’s first coming
gives us the greatest assurance possible for the second.
108
We d n e s d a y
March 28
Where Is the Promise of His
Coming?”
From the earliest days of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Adventists
believed that Christ’s coming was soon, “nearer than we first believed.”
As it stands, we’re still here, much longer than many among us antici-
pated. How are we to understand this “delay”?
First of all, we’re not the only ones whose expectations about when
the Lord would act have not been fulfilled as people have thought.
Eve, for instance, thought God’s promises for a Deliverer (Gen. 3:15)
would be fulfilled in her first-born son. Read Genesis 4:1. An accurate
translation of this text should have the word from in italics, because it
is not in the original language but has been added by a translator. Eve’s
statement can be more literally translated: “I have gotten a man—the
Lord.” She was wrong; the child born was Cain, not the Redeemer. The
Lord’s coming wasn’t until thousands of years later.
“The Saviour’s coming was foretold in Eden. When Adam and Eve
first heard the promise, they looked for its speedy fulfillment. They joy-
fully welcomed their first-born son, hoping that he might be the Deliverer.
But the fulfillment of the promise tarried. Those who first received it died
without the sight. From the days of Enoch the promise was repeated
through patriarchs and prophets, keeping alive the hope of His appearing,
and yet He came not.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 31.
Read
Hebrews 11. What’s the main point of this chapter, and how
does it fit into the whole question of “delay”? (See especially vss.
13, 39, 40.)
_______________________________________________________
Throughout the Bible, we have examples of people waiting in earnest
expectation. Look at how long Abraham waited for the promised son;
look at how long Israel waited in Egypt for deliverance. Time and again
in the Psalms, we read the question, How long, Lord, until deliverance
comes? And, of course, we shouldn’t be surprised about the “delay” in
Christ’s return, not when Peter wrote, almost two thousand years ago,
the following words: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the
last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the
promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things con-
tinue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Pet. 3:3, 4).
Have you thought the Lord would have been back by now? Do
you sometimes find yourself discouraged by the “delay,” or
doubting the Second Advent because we’re still here? Think
about evidence for belief in Christ’s return, realizing that your
understanding of time is radically different from that of God.
109
Th u r s d a y
March 29
“Behold, I Come Quickly”
That
the Lord had not yet come is undoubtedly the basis for some of
Paul’s counsel to the Thessalonians. What does Paul counsel the
church at Thessalonica as they wait for the promised coming of
Christ? 2 Thessalonians 2.
_______________________________________________________
Certain events have to transpire in human history before Jesus will
return, yet, the hope for the future is glorious.
The
book of Revelation, the great book of high points, also gives evi-
dence of a time lag. At the opening of the fifth seal, what do the
voices under the altar cry out? Rev. 6:9–11. What’s implied there
about the question of the “delay”?
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Read
Luke 12:42–48. How does that text help us to understand the
“delay”? More so, what important warning should we take from
it for ourselves, who could easily start feeling the same way?
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What about the texts that talk about Jesus’ coming back quickly,
or soon? For example, “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that
keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Rev. 22:7).
In one sense, as far as our own personal experience is concerned,
the Second Coming is as “soon” as our death. We die, and regardless
of how long after we are in the grave—two years, two hundred, two
thousand—we sleep, and the next thing we know, in an instant, in a
twinkling of an eye, Jesus has returned. Thus, one could argue that
from our own personal perspective alone, from what we personally
experience ourselves, the Second Coming takes no longer than the
span of an individual human life. Although the Second Coming itself
is a literal universal event that impacts the whole earth, we experience
it only as individuals.
As the years roll by, do you find yourself becoming at ease in
the world, getting comfortable with things, and less focused on
the reality of the Second Coming? If so, you’re probably not
alone. How can we fight this natural, although potentially dan-
gerous, tendency? Bring your answer to class on Sabbath.
110
fr i d a y
March 30
Further Study:
“Another year has almost passed into eternity. A few
more days, and we shall enter a new year. My brethren and sisters,
employ wisely the remaining hours of the old year. If you have in any
wise neglected your duty, repent before God, and return to the path
from which you have wandered. Remember how brief the period of life
allotted you. You know not how soon your probation may close. Say
not presumptuously, ‘To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city,
and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain.God may
have different plans for you. Life is but a vapor, ‘that appeareth for a
little time, and then vanisheth.’ You know not how soon your hand may
lose its cunning, your step its firmness. There is peril in a moment’s
delay. ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while
he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man
his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy
upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ ”—Ellen G.
White, Review and Herald, December 23, 1902.
Discussion Questions:
l In class, discuss your answer to Thursday’s final question.
Discuss, too, the irony of the fact that the longer we’re here, the
easier it is to put off the sense of Christ’s return, and yet the
longer we’re here, the closer we come to that return.
l What are the reasons that Jesus has not returned yet? Are we
responsible for that “delay”? How do you justify your answer?
l In your mind, what is the greatest reason for trust in the
promise of the Second Coming?
l Although there’s much debate in science about human origins,
many scientists argue that the long-term prospects for humanity,
the earth, the universe even, are not good. They predict that the
universe is going to burn out or collapse back in on itself, leav-
ing no life anywhere. As Seventh-day Adventists, we believe that
the long-term prospects for the universe are the opposite: they
are wonderful. The point is, if science has the end of all things so
wrong, why should we trust that its understanding of the begin-
ning of all things is any more accurate? This is especially true
when science’s common understanding of the beginning is cen-
tered on various forces, including evolution, that deny a Creator
or any purposeful design or intention in the creation itself. How
much more wrong could it be?
Summary:
We have many very good reasons for trusting in Christ’s
return, no matter when it happens.
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111
Called Out
by mo n s u r u ak i n w a n d e
I grew up in a non-Christian family in Nigeria. One of my Christian
friends often talked to me about Christ. One day he invited me to give
my life to Jesus, but I wasn’t interested. Then I had a dream in which
Jesus stood between heaven and earth, touching people who were on
their way to heaven. But when I approached Him, Jesus didn’t touch
me. Instead He said gently, “You’re not ready yet.” I turned away,
rejected.
I told my friend about my dream, and he explained that God was
speaking to me, inviting me to follow Him. Wow, I thought. God would
speak to me? He must love me! My friends helped me give my life to
Christ.
One day I met a man who lives near the church my friends attended.
He invited me to study the Bible with him. I wasn’t sure I should, so
I asked my friends what to do. “Go ahead and study with him,” they
said. “Just be sure that what he teaches you is truth according to the
Bible.”
As I studied the Bible with this man, I realized that he knew his Bible
well! And when he told me about the Sabbath, he showed me many
Bible texts to prove that God never changed the Sabbath to Sunday. I
was convinced that the Sabbath is Saturday. But I didn’t know what
to do about it.
My new friend gave me some books to read to help me understand
the Bible better. He invited me to attend the Seventh-day Adventist
church with him, and I went, glad to find the truth about God. The devil
became angry and tried to stop me from being baptized, but I refused
to give in.
Before I found Christ, I was nobody. But God has adopted me and
has called me to serve Him and share my faith with those who haven’t
met Jesus yet. He has opened the door for me to study at Babcock
University, the Seventh-day Adventist university in Nigeria. I know
that God will make a way for me to complete my studies and answer
His call to service.
Please pray for me and my fellow Christians who have been called
out of darkness and want to share God’s light with others. And thank
you for your mission offerings and Thirteenth Sabbath Offerings that
have helped establish this great school where thousands of young
people are being trained to serve God.
mo n s u r u ak i n w a n d e is studying theology at Babcock University in Nigeria.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Web site: www.AdventistMission.org
2012
112
Bible Study Guide for the Second Quarter
God raised up the Seventh-day Adventist Church to proclaim “present
truth,” the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14:6–12. To fulfill our
mission, we need to be purposeful in leading as many people into God’s
kingdom as possible by giving those who face eternal destruction the
opportunity for eternal life instead. Next quarter’s Adult Bible Study Guide,
Evangelism and Witnessing, by Joseph A. Webb, strives to equip members
with tools to achieve our core mission of telling the Jesus story with the
intention that people will accept Him as Lord and Savior and become dis-
ciples and even disciple-makers. While evangelism and witnessing are the
personal responsibilities of each believer, the whole body of Seventh-day
Adventist believers (the church) has a corporate responsibility, as well. As
each member contributes to the evangelistic goals and strategies of their
local church, precious people are won to Christ. This needs to be done at
the local church level, or it just won’t get done. Our challenge must be to
make all that we do as a church relate to the core business of reaching the
lost with the “everlasting gospel” (Rev. 14:6) and all that entails.
Lesson 1
—Defining Evangelism and Witnessing
The Week at a Glance:
su n d a y : Evangelism Is . . . ? (Acts 4:33, 5:42, 7:56)
mo n d a y : Witnessing Is . . . ? (Mark 5:18–20, 1 John 1:3)
Tu e s d a y : The Biblical Evidence (Acts 13:1–49)
we d n e s d a y : Telling Our Stories (Acts 22:2–21)
Th u r s d a y : Our Job Description (1 Peter 3:15)
Memory Text—
Matthew 28:19, 20
Sabbath Gem:
If we are to be involved in the fulfillment of
the great gospel commission, we must understand what we mean
by evangelism and witnessing. Thankfully, God’s Word gives us
direction in these two areas.
Lesson 2
—Every Member Ministry
The Week at a Glance:
su n d a y : Every Member Ministry (Ephesians 4:12,
2 Corinthians 5:15–20)
mo n d a y : The Need for Laborers (John 4:35–41)
Tu e s d a y : Individuals but Together (Ephesians 4:16)
we d n e s d a y : Working Together, With God (Acts 2:47)
Th u r s d a y : Reporting to the Church (Acts 14:27, 15:4)
Memory Text—
1 Peter 2:9
Sabbath Gem:
Too often evangelism and witnessing are seen as
the pastor’s job alone; this attitude is wrong.
Lessons for the Visually Impaired
The regular Adult Sabbath School
Bible Study Guide is available free each month in braille and on audiocassette to
sight-impaired and physically handicapped persons who cannot read normal ink
print. This includes individuals who, because of arthritis, multiple sclerosis, paralysis,
accident, and so forth, cannot hold or focus on normal ink-print publications. Contact
Christian Record Services, Box 6097, Lincoln, NE 68506-0097.